General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $335.00 target price on the aerospace company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $305.00.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on GD. Susquehanna increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded General Dynamics from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $297.06.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of GD opened at $286.53 on Monday. General Dynamics has a 52 week low of $202.35 and a 52 week high of $296.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $281.88 and a 200-day moving average of $262.88.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by ($0.01). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The firm had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Dynamics will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total value of $3,914,215.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total value of $3,914,215.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 103,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $218,773,956.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GD. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1,406.1% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,696 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $596,000 after buying an additional 2,517 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 139.1% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 19,771 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,704,000 after purchasing an additional 11,501 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 156,141 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $34,503,000 after purchasing an additional 3,367 shares during the last quarter. Toews Corp ADV purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $773,000. Finally, Accurate Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,825 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $682,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% 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.