General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) had its price target lifted by stock analysts at Citigroup from $354.00 to $360.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the aerospace company’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 32.16% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on GD. Baird R W downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.88.

General Dynamics Price Performance

General Dynamics stock traded up $5.73 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $272.40. The company had a trading volume of 299,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,333,381. The company has a market capitalization of $74.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics has a 12-month low of $247.88 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $271.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $11.67 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics will post 13.81 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents 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 link. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 241.7% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.