General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Declares Dividend Increase – $1.50 Per Share

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 5th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of 1.50 per share by the aerospace company on Friday, May 9th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. This is a 5.6% increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42.

General Dynamics has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 33 consecutive years. General Dynamics has a payout ratio of 33.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect General Dynamics to earn $17.14 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.1%.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD traded up $12.14 on Wednesday, hitting $262.94. 4,134,474 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,784,521. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. General Dynamics has a 12 month low of $239.87 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $257.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $280.39.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $276.00 to $244.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Baird R W cut shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.71.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in General Dynamics stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,885 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 417 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $760,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% 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.