General Dynamics (GD) to Release Earnings on Wednesday

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) is scheduled to be announcing its earnings results before the market opens on Wednesday, April 24th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $3.04 per share for the quarter. Investors that are interested in participating in the company's conference call can do so using this link.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.68 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.39 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 7.84%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect General Dynamics to post $15 EPS for the current fiscal year and $16 EPS for the next fiscal year.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of GD traded down $0.82 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $284.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 708,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,074,614. General Dynamics has a 1 year low of $202.35 and a 1 year high of $296.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $78.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a fifty day moving average of $278.37 and a 200 day moving average of $258.85.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. This is an increase from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.25%.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total value of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares in the company, valued at $204,569,860.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total value of $19,414,117.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 149,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total value of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares in the company, valued at $204,569,860.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Markel Corp grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 390,500 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $94,181,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 13.2% during the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,202 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 294.2% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 540 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 791.6% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,275 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 1,132 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 51.6% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 34,153 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $8,237,000 after buying an additional 11,630 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $283.80.

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.