William Blair Expects Higher Earnings for General Dynamics

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) – Investment analysts at William Blair upped their Q4 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of General Dynamics in a research report issued on Wednesday, October 23rd. William Blair analyst L. Dipalma now expects that the aerospace company will post earnings per share of $4.51 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $4.30. The consensus estimate for General Dynamics’ current full-year earnings is $14.27 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for General Dynamics’ FY2025 earnings at $16.58 EPS.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 7.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.04 earnings per share.

GD has been the topic of several other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of General Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $293.00 to $345.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $317.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $324.19.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.7 %

GD stock opened at $301.80 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $300.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.95. The company has a market capitalization of $82.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics has a 52 week low of $237.35 and a 52 week high of $313.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. American Capital Advisory LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 3,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,515.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 11th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 46.33%.

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.