William Blair Brokers Cut Earnings Estimates for General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) – Research analysts at William Blair decreased their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for General Dynamics in a research report issued on Wednesday, July 24th. William Blair analyst L. Dipalma now expects that the aerospace company will post earnings of $14.46 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $14.51. The consensus estimate for General Dynamics’ current full-year earnings is $14.51 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for General Dynamics’ Q4 2024 earnings at $4.30 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $16.23 EPS.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $11.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $305.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $334.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $312.17.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD stock opened at $293.05 on Monday. General Dynamics has a 52 week low of $214.53 and a 52 week high of $302.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $292.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $283.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 46.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 2,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.00, for a total transaction of $740,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,589,184. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP William A. Moss sold 21,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.85, for a total value of $6,206,592.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 16,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,901,586.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 2,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.00, for a total value of $740,160.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,589,184. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,069 shares of company stock valued at $16,295,101 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,782,612 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,351,041,000 after purchasing an additional 115,063 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,164,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,081,488,000 after acquiring an additional 147,800 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $728,284,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,282,757 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $592,764,000 after purchasing an additional 24,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,680,666 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,927,000 after purchasing an additional 23,262 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.