General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Issues Earnings Results

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The aerospace company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by ($0.01), Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.84% and a return on equity of 16.61%. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.64 EPS.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD stock traded up $2.23 on Thursday, reaching $283.34. The company had a trading volume of 577,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,097,643. The business’s 50-day moving average is $280.26 and its 200 day moving average is $261.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. General Dynamics has a one year low of $202.35 and a one year high of $296.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.74 billion, a PE ratio of 23.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.68.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total value of $8,551,750.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares in the company, valued at $204,569,860.87. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total value of $19,414,117.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 149,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Citigroup upped their target price on General Dynamics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.47.

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.