General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Increases Dividend to $1.50 Per Share

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 5th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of 1.50 per share by the aerospace company on Friday, May 9th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a 5.6% increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42.

General Dynamics has increased its dividend by an average of 6.1% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 33 consecutive years. General Dynamics has a dividend payout ratio of 33.9% indicating that 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 Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $264.66 on Friday. General Dynamics has a 1 year low of $239.87 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $257.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $280.16. The company has a market capitalization of $71.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.40, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. As a group, equities analysts predict that General Dynamics will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $283.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Baird R W lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.71.

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in General Dynamics stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,885 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% 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.