General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Reaches New 12-Month High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) shares reached a new 12-month high of $330.39, indicating strong investor interest with a recent trading volume of 118,477 shares.
• Recent analyst reports have set price targets for General Dynamics, with Citigroup raising its target from $348 to $368 and Barclays from $285 to $350, reflecting overall optimism in the stock's potential.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, which will be paid on November 14th, representing a 1.8% annual yield based on its current share price.

General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $330.39 and last traded at $328.42, with a volume of 118477 shares. The stock had previously closed at $324.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $348.00 to $368.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $309.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $283.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $315.78.

General Dynamics Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $318.11 and a 200 day moving average of $291.03. The company has a market cap of $88.45 billion, a PE ratio of 22.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

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

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 8,150 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.18, for a total transaction of $2,617,617.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,818 shares in the company, valued at $7,328,685.24. This trade represents a 26.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 129,090 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.57, for a total value of $40,478,751.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 769,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at $241,325,666.99. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 275,020 shares of company stock valued at $86,414,503. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,140,437 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,249,220,000 after buying an additional 119,664 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,502,305 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,499,819,000 after buying an additional 256,687 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,439,720 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,003,444,000 after buying an additional 691,340 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,385,573 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $695,776,000 after buying an additional 9,283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,712,190 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $499,377,000 after buying an additional 41,349 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.