General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Short Interest Up 5.7% in December

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) saw a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,500,000 shares, an increase of 5.7% from the November 30th total of 3,310,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,350,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE:GD opened at $263.49 on Thursday. General Dynamics has a 52 week low of $247.36 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The stock has a market cap of $72.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $281.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $290.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.04 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 43.26%.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GD. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 40,389.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,379,472 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $416,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,065 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after buying an additional 943,247 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after buying an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 117.0% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $259,469,000 after acquiring an additional 463,000 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in General Dynamics by 2,189.3% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 374,207 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $108,572,000 after acquiring an additional 357,861 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on GD. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of 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. TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.88.

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.