Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Makes New Investment in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE bought a new position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 4,050 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,104,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,689 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after buying an additional 1,283 shares during the last quarter. Hickory Point Bank & Trust purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $692,000. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $550,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 45.4% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 80,565 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $21,228,000 after buying an additional 25,144 shares during the period. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 79,450 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $20,934,000 after buying an additional 12,453 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on GD. Susquehanna raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Argus set a $295.00 price objective on General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. William Blair downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.00.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $279.80 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $274.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $266.63. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $239.20 and a one year high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $75.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.46.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.23. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. The business had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.88 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 41.61%.

General Dynamics 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.