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

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) was downgraded by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Finviz reports. They presently have a $290.00 price target on the aerospace company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $330.00. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 10.57% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $309.00 to $306.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.88.

General Dynamics Stock Down 1.1 %

General Dynamics stock opened at $262.27 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80. General Dynamics has a fifty-two week low of $247.36 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $289.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $293.03. The firm has a market cap of $72.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.59.

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

General Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FFG Partners LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. FFG Partners LLC now owns 19,875 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,006,000 after acquiring an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 12.4% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 56,384 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $17,039,000 after purchasing an additional 6,231 shares during the last quarter. American Trust increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 43.1% in the third quarter. American Trust now owns 2,766 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $836,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 605.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 79,568 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $24,045,000 after purchasing an additional 68,290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 138.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 3,699 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,118,000 after buying an additional 2,149 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.