Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Acquires 37,092 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 121.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,571 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,092 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $17,804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Community Bank N.A. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 5,461 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,344 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,313,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Purus Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $701,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 1,012 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on GD. BTIG Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. William Blair cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 price target (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.71.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $260.87 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $257.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $279.18. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $239.87 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.53 billion, a PE ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 43.99%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

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.