Benson Investment Management Company Inc. Purchases 513 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Benson Investment Management Company Inc. raised its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,085 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 513 shares during the period. Benson Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $4,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GD. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $1,037,000. Eastern Bank lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,607 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Persium Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $500,000. Forza Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in General Dynamics by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,594 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $947,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Financial Group lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 1,259 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on GD. Susquehanna reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $308.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Up 1.7 %

General Dynamics stock opened at $263.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $72.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $247.36 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $275.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $288.79.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. General Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.04 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.26%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management 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.