Renasant Bank Raises Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Renasant Bank raised its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 46.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,258 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 1,038 shares during the quarter. Renasant Bank's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GD. State Street Corp raised its stake in General Dynamics by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after buying an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at $197,238,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 463,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 283,972 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE:GD traded up $2.33 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $267.51. 1,569,347 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,236,020. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $258.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $278.54. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $239.87 and a one year high of $316.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $72.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is 43.99%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Baird R W cut General Dynamics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. William Blair cut General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research cut General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $297.71.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company's stock.

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.