General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have given a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $298.59.

GD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 241.7% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $246.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. General Dynamics has a 52 week low of $242.86 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $263.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $284.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.68 billion, a PE ratio of 18.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.64%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.