Kowal Investment Group LLC Increases Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Kowal Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 12.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,049 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $885,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the first quarter worth $29,000. Finally, American Capital Advisory LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on GD. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley raised General Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $293.00 to $345.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays increased their target price on General Dynamics from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $315.06.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $306.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.33. The company has a market capitalization of $84.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $214.53 and a one year high of $309.97. The company’s 50-day moving average is $294.79 and its 200 day moving average is $291.09.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The firm had revenue of $11.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.70 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 11th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.33%.

Insider Activity

In other General Dynamics news, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total value of $406,626.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,515.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

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.