General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Expected to Post Earnings of $2.48 Per Share

Brokerages forecast that General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD – Get Rating) will post $2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Four analysts have made estimates for General Dynamics’ earnings, with the lowest EPS estimate coming in at $2.44 and the highest estimate coming in at $2.53. General Dynamics also reported earnings of $2.48 per share during the same quarter last year. The business is expected to announce its next quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Monday, January 1st.

On average, analysts expect that General Dynamics will report full-year earnings of $12.11 per share for the current fiscal year, with EPS estimates ranging from $12.00 to $12.15. For the next year, analysts expect that the business will report earnings of $14.12 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $13.85 to $14.30. Zacks’ earnings per share calculations are an average based on a survey of sell-side analysts that cover General Dynamics.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 26th. The aerospace company reported $3.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.37 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $10.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.69 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 20.35%. General Dynamics’s revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GD shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on General Dynamics from $235.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 7th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $215.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.00.

In related news, VP William A. Moss sold 2,391 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.17, for a total transaction of $567,073.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GD. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 5.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,114,237 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,158,874,000 after purchasing an additional 861,074 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 3.3% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,502,081 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,058,727,000 after purchasing an additional 339,708 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,642,456 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $757,162,000 after purchasing an additional 64,638 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 5.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,507,605 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $687,595,000 after purchasing an additional 196,433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,998,035 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $625,169,000 after purchasing an additional 85,186 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.02% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics stock traded up $1.51 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $243.55. The stock had a trading volume of 1,382,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,540,111. General Dynamics has a 12 month low of $182.01 and a 12 month high of $254.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $229.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $212.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.74 billion, a PE ratio of 21.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 8th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 7th. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 43.64%.

General Dynamics Company Profile (Get Rating)

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 designs, manufactures, and sells business jets; and offers aircraft maintenance and repair, management, charter, aircraft-on-ground support and completion, staffing, and fixed-base operator services.

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