General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) shares reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $367.66 and last traded at $367.5250, with a volume of 547275 shares. The stock had previously closed at $366.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. Robert W. Baird set a $390.00 price target on General Dynamics in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $385.00 target price on General Dynamics in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $420.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday. Melius Research upgraded shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $360.95.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $99.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $343.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $329.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $12.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.49 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 18.27% and a net margin of 8.18%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.35 earnings per share. General Dynamics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.300-15.35 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 6th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In related news, VP David Paddock sold 20,360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.92, for a total transaction of $6,818,971.20. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 36,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,272,808.48. The trade was a 35.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 620.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 72 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Burkett Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 650.0% during the third quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 75 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Company Profile

General Dynamics is a major American aerospace and defense contractor that designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of products and services for government and commercial customers worldwide. Headquartered in the United States (Reston, Virginia), the company supplies platforms and systems used by armed forces, civil authorities and private operators across multiple domains including air, land, sea and cyber.

Its principal activities span several operating businesses: a business aviation unit that develops and supports Gulfstream business jets; land systems that produce armored combat vehicles and related logistics and sustainment services; marine systems that design and construct submarines and surface ships for navies; and mission systems and information technology operations that provide command-and-control, communications, cybersecurity and systems-integration services.