Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GD. State Street Corp increased its stake in General Dynamics by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after buying an additional 943,247 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $197,238,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after purchasing an additional 638,342 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 117.0% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $259,469,000 after purchasing an additional 463,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 43.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $284,818,000 after purchasing an additional 283,972 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $271.82 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $257.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $279.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $239.87 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The company has a market capitalization of $73.49 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 43.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on GD shares. TD Cowen cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Baird R W lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, William Blair downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.71.

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.