General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts rate GD a "Moderate Buy" — 21 analysts cover the stock (1 sell, 6 hold, 12 buy, 2 strong buy) with an average 1‑year price target of roughly $384.53.
• General Dynamics beat Q4 estimates with EPS of $4.17 (vs. $4.11) and revenue of $14.38B (vs. $13.77B), and set FY2026 guidance of 16.10–16.20 EPS, above the analyst consensus of 14.83.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.59 (annualized $6.36, yield 1.9%, ex‑dividend April 10), while insiders have recently sold shares (including CEO Phebe Novakovic), and institutional investors own about 86.1% of the stock.

Shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $384.5263.

GD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $387.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $380.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $408.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group set a $393.00 price objective on General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, January 29th.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:GD opened at $339.93 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $92.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.38. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $351.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $347.40. General Dynamics has a 1 year low of $262.84 and a 1 year high of $369.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The aerospace company reported $4.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $14.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.77 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.57% and a net margin of 8.01%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.15 earnings per share. General Dynamics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.100-16.200 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that General Dynamics will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a $1.59 dividend. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. This is a boost from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.09, for a total value of $11,655,934.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 766,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $271,394,759.13. This trade represents a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Mark Rayha sold 4,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.79, for a total value of $1,524,212.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 7,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,767,997.44. This represents a 35.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 51,260 shares of company stock worth $18,133,971. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,885 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $760,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 140.2% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,445 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $938,000 after acquiring an additional 2,011 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics in the second quarter valued at $240,000. Flow Traders U.S. LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics in the second quarter valued at $352,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics in the second quarter valued at $1,284,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

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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