General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $305.56.

Several research firms recently commented on GD. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays upped their target price on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on General Dynamics in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $345.00 target price for the company.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE GD opened at $284.87 on Thursday. General Dynamics has a fifty-two week low of $211.94 and a fifty-two week high of $302.75. The stock has a market cap of $78.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a fifty day moving average of $294.07 and a 200-day moving average of $278.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.89 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.64 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that General Dynamics will post 14.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 46.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total value of $14,182,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,773,956.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total transaction of $14,182,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,773,956.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total value of $3,978,647.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 79,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,630,670.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 118,486 shares of company stock valued at $34,391,642 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GD. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 42.0% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 12,418 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,744,000 after purchasing an additional 3,670 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.7% during the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,513 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in General Dynamics by 7.2% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 263,635 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $58,255,000 after buying an additional 17,797 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its position in General Dynamics by 4.5% during the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 7,104 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,570,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in General Dynamics by 3.2% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 103,117 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $22,795,000 after buying an additional 3,160 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About General Dynamics

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.