Royal Bank of Canada Downgrades General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) to Sector Perform

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

GD has been the topic of several other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $322.00 to $295.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.88.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE GD opened at $260.28 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $71.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $289.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $292.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. General Dynamics has a 12-month low of $247.36 and a 12-month high of $316.90.

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

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.26%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GD. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 241.7% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. American Capital Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the second quarter worth $29,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 120.0% during the second quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently 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.