General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $1.50

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 every year for the last 33 years. General Dynamics has a payout ratio of 33.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $262.94 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $257.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $280.27. General Dynamics has a 1-year low of $239.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The company has a market cap of $71.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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, analysts anticipate that General Dynamics will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $276.00 to $244.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective 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. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.71.

General Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics

An institutional investor recently raised its position in General Dynamics stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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 Securities and Exchange Commission. Institutional investors 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.