General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Reaches New 1-Year High After Earnings Beat

General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $360.50 and last traded at $351.91, with a volume of 365026 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $341.50.

The aerospace company reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $12.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.49 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 17.99%. General Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.35 earnings per share. General Dynamics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.300-15.35 EPS.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $283.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $309.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $348.00 to $368.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $327.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, VP William A. Moss sold 17,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 8,150 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.18, for a total transaction of $2,617,617.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,818 shares in the company, valued at $7,328,685.24. The trade was a 26.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 242,460 shares of company stock valued at $76,192,291 over the last quarter. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 1st quarter valued at $272,464,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in General Dynamics by 3,306.5% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 871,052 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $297,029,000 after acquiring an additional 845,482 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 34.8% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,748,380 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $749,252,000 after acquiring an additional 709,782 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 120.9% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,261,525 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $343,866,000 after purchasing an additional 690,349 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 142.5% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 438,311 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $127,838,000 after purchasing an additional 257,534 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $329.49 and a 200-day moving average of $301.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.47.

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.