General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $1.42

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 4th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of 1.42 per share by the aerospace company on Friday, February 7th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%.

General Dynamics has increased its dividend by an average of 6.5% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 33 consecutive years. General Dynamics has a payout ratio of 35.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect General Dynamics to earn $16.09 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.3%.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.1 %

General Dynamics stock traded up $0.24 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $277.66. 1,291,567 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,115,553. General Dynamics has a 52-week low of $247.36 and a 52-week high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $76.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.20, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s 50-day moving average is $296.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $295.29.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The company had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.04 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that General Dynamics will post 13.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total transaction of $406,626.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,515.60. This trade represents a 26.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $317.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $309.00 to $306.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $293.00 to $345.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.69.

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.