General Dynamics Co. (GD) To Go Ex-Dividend on October 11th

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 7th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 11th will be given a dividend of 1.42 per share by the aerospace company on Friday, November 15th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 11th.

General Dynamics has raised its dividend payment by an average of 6.5% 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 34.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect General Dynamics to earn $16.38 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 34.7%.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD stock opened at $296.90 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $297.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $293.21. The firm has a market cap of $81.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.22, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics has a 1 year low of $228.50 and a 1 year high of $309.97.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The company had revenue of $11.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics will post 14.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total value of $406,626.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,515.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on GD shares. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $345.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. BTIG Research started coverage on General Dynamics in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $345.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded General Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $293.00 to $345.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $320.00 to $314.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $334.00 to $317.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $317.06.

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.