General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Stock Rating Lowered by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research note published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has $290.00 target price on the aerospace company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $330.00.

GD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $322.00 to $295.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.88.

General Dynamics Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $263.64 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.49 billion, a PE ratio of 20.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $288.41 and its 200-day moving average is $292.53. General Dynamics has a 1 year low of $247.36 and a 1 year high of $316.90.

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

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 43.26%.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,292,851,000 after buying an additional 109,618 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after acquiring an additional 943,247 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,366,124,000 after acquiring an additional 189,904 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after purchasing an additional 638,342 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,493,030,000 after purchasing an additional 24,464 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.