General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• General Dynamics Corporation has received an average analyst recommendation of "Hold", with one analyst rating it a sell, twelve a hold, and nine a buy.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, indicating a dividend yield of 1.8% and a payout ratio of 40.27%.
• In its latest earnings report, General Dynamics beat consensus estimates with earnings per share of $3.74 on revenue of $13.04 billion, reflecting an 8.9% increase year-over-year.

Shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the twenty-two analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have given a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $315.7778.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GD shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on General Dynamics from $283.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wolfe Research raised shares of General Dynamics from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $360.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $314.00 price target on General Dynamics and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th.

General Dynamics Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE:GD opened at $330.54 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $88.91 billion, a PE ratio of 22.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.50. The business's 50 day moving average is $318.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $291.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. General Dynamics has a 52 week low of $239.20 and a 52 week high of $330.63.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.27. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The firm had revenue of $13.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.26 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. General Dynamics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.050-15.150 EPS. On average, analysts predict that General Dynamics will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark Malcolm sold 3,220 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.45, for a total value of $1,060,829.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,186 shares in the company, valued at $3,355,777.70. This trade represents a 24.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 129,090 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.57, for a total value of $40,478,751.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 769,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $241,325,666.99. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 275,020 shares of company stock valued at $86,414,503. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GD. Retirement Guys Formula LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the first quarter worth approximately $1,692,000. Advisory Resource Group grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 19,200 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $5,234,000 after acquiring an additional 1,276 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 18.9% during the first quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 16,144 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $4,401,000 after purchasing an additional 2,568 shares during the period. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 31.6% during the first quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 33,644 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $9,171,000 after purchasing an additional 8,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 16,522 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $4,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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