Summit Global Investments Grows Position in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• Summit Global Investments increased its General Dynamics stake by 249.8% in the first quarter, ending with 4,302 shares valued at about $1.48 million.
• General Dynamics reported better-than-expected Q1 results, with EPS of $4.10 versus estimates of $3.67 and revenue of $13.48 billion, ahead of expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.59 per share, payable on August 7, representing an annualized yield of about 1.7%.

Summit Global Investments lifted its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 249.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,302 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,072 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments' holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 1,725.0% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 65.2% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 220.7% in the fourth quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 93 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group upgraded General Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $387.00 to $377.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded General Dynamics from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $391.15.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD opened at $370.61 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.90. General Dynamics Corporation has a one year low of $293.95 and a one year high of $380.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $353.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $350.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.22 billion, a PE ratio of 23.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.34.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The business had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.66 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. General Dynamics's payout ratio is currently 40.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Mark Malcolm sold 5,480 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $2,000,200.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,884,695. This represents a 33.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value of $12,596,179.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 38,975 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,457,677.75. This represents a 48.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 78,190 shares of company stock worth $27,041,022. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Company Profile

General Dynamics is a major American aerospace and defense contractor that designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of products and services for government and commercial customers worldwide. Headquartered in the United States (Reston, Virginia), the company supplies platforms and systems used by armed forces, civil authorities and private operators across multiple domains including air, land, sea and cyber.

Its principal activities span several operating businesses: a business aviation unit that develops and supports Gulfstream business jets; land systems that produce armored combat vehicles and related logistics and sustainment services; marine systems that design and construct submarines and surface ships for navies; and mission systems and information technology operations that provide command-and-control, communications, cybersecurity and systems-integration services.

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