General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Stock Rating Lowered by William Blair

William Blair lowered shares of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report issued on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on GD. Vertical Research lowered General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. BTIG Research lowered General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $298.59.

General Dynamics Price Performance

NYSE GD opened at $243.02 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $259.68 and its 200 day moving average is $282.49. General Dynamics has a fifty-two week low of $239.87 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The company has a market capitalization of $65.70 billion, a PE ratio of 17.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.61. 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 (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. Sell-side analysts predict that General Dynamics will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 41.64%.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was 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. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GD. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 40,389.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,379,472 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $416,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,065 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $279,582,000. State Street Corp grew its position in General Dynamics by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after purchasing an additional 943,247 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $197,238,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in General Dynamics by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,265,813,000 after purchasing an additional 706,317 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.