SWS Partners Increases Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

SWS Partners increased its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,727 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. SWS Partners’ holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Vertical Research lowered General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. William Blair cut General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.71.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.6 %

GD opened at $254.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $239.87 and a one year high of $316.90. The company has a market cap of $68.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.63, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $258.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $280.71.

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

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.64%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Company 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.