General Dynamics Rewards Shareholders With 5.6% Dividend Hike

General Dynamics Corp. GD recently announced that its board of directors has approved a 5.6% increase in quarterly dividend rate. The company’s revised quarterly dividend will be $1.50 per share, payable on May 9, 2025, to its shareholders of record at the close of the business on April 11.The recent increase represents the company’s 28th consecutive annual dividend hike. Following this hike, GD’s new annualized dividend rate is $6 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.3%, based on its share price of $262.96 as of March 5, 2025. The company’s current dividend yield is better than the Zacks S&P 500 composite’s 1.26%.Can General Dynamics Sustain Dividend Hikes? General Dynamics saw a healthy backlog of $90.6 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, driven by a robust inflow of orders. At the end of the quarter, the projected contract value, which combines the overall backlog with the potential contract value, was $144 billion. This contract value implies a year-over-year increase of 9.1%. The strength of the order flow was driven by strong demand across the company’s product and services portfolio.Such remarkable order and backlog trends imply strong demand for the company's products, thereby boosting its revenue generation potential. This, in turn, should enable General Dynamics to generate solid cash flow operations and thereby duly reward its shareholders with dividend hikes in the future, like the latest one.Other Defense Companies’ Recent Dividend Hikes Here are some defense companies that have been rewarding shareholders with impressive dividend payouts.On Jan. 27, 2025, Howmet Aerospace Inc. HWM announced that its board of directors approved a 25% hike in quarterly dividend to 10 cents per share. The dividend will be payable on April 1, 2025, to its shareholders.Howmet boasts a long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate of 22.1%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HWM’s 2025 sales implies an improvement of 8.5% from the prior-year figure.On Feb. 28, 2025, L3Harris Technologies, Inc. LHX announced that its board of directors approved a 3.4% increase in quarterly dividend to $1.20 per share. This marks the company's 24th consecutive year of raising its dividends.L3Harris boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 7.3%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LHX’s 2025 sales implies an improvement of 3.6% from the prior-year figure.GD Stock’s Price Movement In the past month, GD’s shares have risen 3.2% against the industry’s decline of 1%.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchGD’s Zacks Rank & A Stock to Consider General Dynamics currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).A better-ranked stock in the same industry is Leidos Holdings, Inc. LDOS, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Leidos has a long-term earnings growth rate of 7.4% and a dividend yield of 1.2%.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LDOS’ 2025 sales indicates year-over-year growth of 2.6%.Only $1 to See All Zacks' Buys and SellsWe're not kidding.Several years ago, we shocked our members by offering them 30-day access to all our picks for the total sum of only $1. No obligation to spend another cent.Thousands have taken advantage of this opportunity. Thousands did not - they thought there must be a catch. Yes, we do have a reason. We want you to get acquainted with our portfolio services like Surprise Trader, Stocks Under $10, Technology Innovators,and more, that closed 256 positions with double- and triple-digit gains in 2024 alone.See Stocks Now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report General Dynamics Corporation (GD): Free Stock Analysis Report Leidos Holdings, Inc. (LDOS): Free Stock Analysis Report L3Harris Technologies Inc (LHX): Free Stock Analysis Report Howmet Aerospace Inc. (HWM): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks