General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.01 EPS

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The aerospace company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by ($0.01), Briefing.com reports. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 7.84%. The company had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD traded up $2.87 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $283.98. The company had a trading volume of 639,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,098,393. General Dynamics has a twelve month low of $202.35 and a twelve month high of $296.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $77.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $280.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $261.22.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 3rd. Barclays increased their price target on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.47.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total value of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total value of $8,551,750.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares in the company, valued at $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total value of $19,414,117.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 149,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.52% 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.