Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. Purchases 245 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 3.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,460 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 245 shares during the quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Finally, New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:GD traded up $1.53 during trading on Friday, hitting $299.36. 1,033,038 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,060,318. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $290.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $287.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.42, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.60. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $214.53 and a 12-month high of $302.75.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.30 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $11.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.46 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 7.89%. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on GD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $293.00 to $345.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $315.06.

General Dynamics Profile

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.