General Dynamics Co. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $1.50 (NYSE:GD)

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, June 4th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of 1.50 per share by the aerospace company on Friday, August 8th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%.

General Dynamics has a payout ratio of 35.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect General Dynamics to earn $17.14 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.0%.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.1%

General Dynamics stock traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $274.78. 327,931 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,376,998. General Dynamics has a 12-month low of $239.20 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The business has a fifty day moving average of $272.61 and a 200 day moving average of $266.82. The firm has a market cap of $73.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.15, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.92 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.88 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. William Blair lowered General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Argus set a $295.00 target price on General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $293.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

An institutional investor recently raised its position in General Dynamics stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,885 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

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.