General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Alembic Global Advisors cut General Dynamics from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $296.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $320.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays increased their target price on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $297.06.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $288.14 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $282.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $263.05. The stock has a market cap of $79.05 billion, a PE ratio of 23.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. General Dynamics has a 52-week low of $202.35 and a 52-week high of $296.50.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its 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). The business had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the company’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 sale, the vice president now directly 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In other General Dynamics news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 103,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total value of $14,182,325.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,773,956.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in General Dynamics by 46.8% during the first quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 113 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in General Dynamics by 2.5% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 1,503 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 1.1% during the first quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,299 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $932,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC lifted its position in General Dynamics by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodward Diversified Capital LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 1,727 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $448,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.