Zacks Research Has Pessimistic Outlook of GD FY2025 Earnings

Key Points

• Zacks Research has revised its FY2025 earnings per share estimate for General Dynamics down to $15.12, slightly below the previous estimate of $15.14, while the consensus estimate is $14.83.
• Despite the earnings downgrade, multiple investment firms, including Deutsche Bank and Robert W. Baird, have upgraded their ratings on General Dynamics, with price targets ranging from $342 to $350.
• The company is set to pay a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share on November 14, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.7% and a payout ratio of 40.27%.

General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) - Research analysts at Zacks Research dropped their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for General Dynamics in a research report issued on Monday, October 6th. Zacks Research analyst Team now anticipates that the aerospace company will post earnings of $15.12 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $15.14. The consensus estimate for General Dynamics' current full-year earnings is $14.83 per share.

GD has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded General Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $298.00 to $342.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on General Dynamics from $283.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded General Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Barclays upped their target price on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised General Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $315.78.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD opened at $343.47 on Wednesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $323.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $295.42. 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 has a 1 year low of $239.20 and a 1 year high of $347.37. The firm has a market cap of $92.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.05, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.47.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $13.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.13 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 8.13%.General Dynamics's 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 earnings per share. General Dynamics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.050-15.150 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 783.3% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 106 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 80.3% during the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 43,860 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.28, for a total value of $13,696,600.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,452,165. This trade represents a 52.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 129,090 shares of General Dynamics 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. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 275,020 shares of company stock valued at $86,414,503 in the last 90 days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.27%.

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.

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