General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Sets New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• General Dynamics' stock recently hit a new 52-week high of $341.19, supported by robust trading volume of 1,162,468 shares.
• Analysts have shown strong confidence, with several upgrading their target prices, including Susquehanna raising it from $315.00 to $365.00.
• The company reported a Q2 earnings per share of $3.74, surpassing expectations and indicating an 8.9% revenue growth year-over-year.

General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $341.19 and last traded at $340.96, with a volume of 1162468 shares. The stock had previously closed at $341.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded General Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $298.00 to $342.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $284.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $325.00 target price on General Dynamics and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $315.78.

General Dynamics Price Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $320.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $293.08. The firm has a market cap of $91.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.36.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.27. The business 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%.General Dynamics's quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.26 EPS. General Dynamics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.050-15.150 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given 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 currently 40.27%.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 129,090 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 769,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $241,325,666.99. This represents a 14.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP William A. Moss sold 17,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.40, for a total value of $5,600,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 16,627 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,260,782.80. This represents a 51.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 275,020 shares of company stock worth $86,414,503. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

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.

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