General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,570,000 shares, a drop of 16.0% from the February 28th total of 3,060,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,710,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.7 %

General Dynamics stock traded up $2.00 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $276.14. 1,349,162 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,315,670. General Dynamics has a 1-year low of $239.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $258.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $276.19. The stock has a market cap of $74.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its 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 fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.99%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GD shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BTIG Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $298.59.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GD. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,283 shares during the period. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $607,000. Hickory Point Bank & Trust bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $692,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 69.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 261,992 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $69,032,000 after buying an additional 107,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $550,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

About General Dynamics

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.