General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Price Target Cut to $315.00 by Analysts at Susquehanna

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) had its price objective reduced by Susquehanna from $330.00 to $315.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a positive rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

GD has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup raised their price target on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $308.18.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $261.35 on Wednesday. General Dynamics has a 1 year low of $247.36 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $277.81 and a 200 day moving average of $289.54. The stock has a market cap of $71.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.04 EPS. General Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics will post 13.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 67.6% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,583,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448 shares in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,533,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 10.0% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $11,204,000 after buying an additional 3,363 shares in the last quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 32.6% in the third quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 10,368 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,133,000 after buying an additional 2,551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in General Dynamics by 17.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 297,577 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $89,928,000 after acquiring an additional 44,387 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

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.