General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Strong-Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Thursday.

GD has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday. 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, April 16th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $320.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $285.63.

General Dynamics Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of GD stock opened at $284.97 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $280.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $261.39. General Dynamics has a 1-year low of $202.35 and a 1-year high of $296.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.19 billion, a PE ratio of 23.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.89 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.64 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics will post 14.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.33%.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GD. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 46.8% in the 1st quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 113 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 1,503 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,299 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $932,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodward Diversified Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 1,727 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $448,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.