General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Receives $298.59 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have assigned a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $298.59.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. Wolfe Research cut General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.8 %

General Dynamics stock opened at $246.25 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $260.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $282.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. General Dynamics has a 1-year low of $239.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The company has a market cap of $66.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. Research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were given a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 41.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 241.7% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. 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.