General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $283.80.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GD shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Alembic Global Advisors cut General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 29th. Citigroup increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th.

General Dynamics Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of GD opened at $288.74 on Friday. General Dynamics has a 1 year low of $202.35 and a 1 year high of $296.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $279.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $259.49. The stock has a market cap of $79.22 billion, a PE ratio of 24.02, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.68.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 7.84%. The company had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.58 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that General Dynamics will post 14.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 47.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated 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 $39,502,023.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $204,569,860.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the first quarter worth approximately $299,000. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 9.0% during the first quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,904 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Accel Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 19.4% during the first quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 1,577 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $445,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 20.5% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 7,798 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthstar Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the first quarter worth approximately $207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.