General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.42

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 7th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th will be paid 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 raised its dividend annually for the last 33 consecutive years. General Dynamics has a payout ratio of 34.5% indicating that 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 Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $296.90 on Wednesday. General Dynamics has a 12-month low of $228.50 and a 12-month high of $309.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $293.21.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.30 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 7.89%. The business had revenue of $11.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.70 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics will post 14.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on General Dynamics in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $345.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $334.00 to $317.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.