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

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

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of 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. Susquehanna increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $285.63.

General Dynamics Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of GD stock opened at $284.97 on Thursday. 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 market cap of $78.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $280.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $261.39. General Dynamics has a 1 year low of $202.35 and a 1 year high of $296.50.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.89 by ($0.01). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The firm had revenue of $10.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that General Dynamics will post 14.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 46.33%.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in General Dynamics by 46.8% in the 1st quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 113 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 1,503 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,299 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $932,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodward Diversified Capital LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 1,727 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $448,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

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.