General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• General Dynamics has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 21 analysts, with an average 12-month price target of $388.20.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $4.10 versus estimates of $3.67 and revenue of $13.48 billion versus expectations of $12.70 billion, with revenue up 10.3% year over year.
• General Dynamics also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.59 per share, up from $1.50, bringing the annualized payout to $6.36 and the yield to about 1.8%.

General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation, eleven have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $388.20.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GD. Citigroup decreased their price target on General Dynamics from $389.00 to $380.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $385.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $398.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Monday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on General Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $371.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.4%

GD opened at $346.48 on Friday. General Dynamics has a 12 month low of $267.39 and a 12 month high of $369.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.80, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $345.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $346.69.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.66 EPS. General Dynamics's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a $1.59 dividend. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This is an increase from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.03%.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 10,153 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.95, for a total value of $3,603,807.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,975 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,834,176.25. The trade was a 20.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.09, for a total value of $11,655,934.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 766,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at $271,394,759.13. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 51,260 shares of company stock valued at $18,133,971 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 118.3% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,847 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $567,372,000 after acquiring an additional 901,679 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in General Dynamics by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,332,917 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,136,525,000 after purchasing an additional 863,392 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in General Dynamics by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,238,561 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $8,265,349,000 after purchasing an additional 677,665 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in General Dynamics by 831.1% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 737,259 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $251,405,000 after purchasing an additional 658,081 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 6,680.8% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 591,488 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $199,130,000 after purchasing an additional 582,765 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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