General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Plans $1.42 Quarterly Dividend

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 4th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of 1.42 per share by the aerospace company on Friday, February 7th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%.

General Dynamics has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.5% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 33 years. General Dynamics has a payout ratio of 35.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect General Dynamics to earn $16.07 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.3%.

General Dynamics Price Performance

NYSE:GD opened at $277.66 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics has a 52-week low of $247.36 and a 52-week high of $316.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $296.50 and a 200 day moving average of $295.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.32.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. General Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.04 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that General Dynamics will post 13.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total transaction of $406,626.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,515.60. This represents a 26.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on General Dynamics from $317.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $309.00 to $306.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Seaport Res Ptn cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.69.

General Dynamics Company Profile

General Dynamics Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The Aerospace segment produces and sells business jets; and offers aircraft maintenance and repair, management, aircraft-on-ground support and completion, charter, staffing, and fixed-base operator services.