Olstein Capital Management L.P. Boosts Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 90.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,500 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,500 shares during the quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $7,509,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,911,000. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in General Dynamics by 6.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,477,993 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $428,825,000 after buying an additional 88,489 shares during the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 363.4% in the second quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 4,898 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,421,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 520.1% in the second quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 77,742 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $22,556,000 after acquiring an additional 65,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 4.2% during the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 3,242 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $941,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Baird R W cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of GD stock opened at $266.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $73.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $257.26 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $269.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $287.64.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The company had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.04 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.66 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 43.26%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics 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.