National Bank of Canada FI Boosts Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 79.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 155,953 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 68,896 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $47,129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 67.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,583,000 after buying an additional 3,448 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 36.4% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,533,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in General Dynamics by 10.0% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $11,204,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363 shares in the last quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 32.6% in the third quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 10,368 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,133,000 after acquiring an additional 2,551 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in General Dynamics by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 588,619 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $177,881,000 after purchasing an additional 5,069 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on GD. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $317.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on General Dynamics from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total value of $406,626.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,515.60. The trade was a 26.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD stock opened at $271.80 on Monday. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $247.36 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.74 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $295.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $294.79.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.04 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.26%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.