NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- General Dynamics (GD) - Get Report shares are up 0.46% to $136.88 in trading on Thursday after the aerospace and defense company upped its quarterly dividend by 11.3% to 69 cents from 62 cents after the closing bell yesterday.

The company reported strong fourth quarter earnings results at the end of January, crediting strong sales of its personal business jet Gulfstream division for the better than expected fourth quarter financial results.

The company reported earnings of $2.19 per share on January 28, topping analysts' expectations of $2.13 per share by six cents.

General Dynamics is the third aerospace/defense company to raise its quarterly dividend in the past six months, following Boeing's (BA) - Get Report 25 quarterly dividend increase and Lockheed Martin's (LMT) - Get Report 13% increase, according to the Wall Street Journal.

TheStreet Ratings team rates GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP as a Buy with a ratings score of A. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP (GD) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, solid stock price performance, growth in earnings per share, increase in net income and reasonable valuation levels. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows weak operating cash flow."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

• GD's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 0.5%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 3.9%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
• Investors have apparently begun to recognize positive factors similar to those we have mentioned in this report, including earnings growth. This has helped drive up the company's shares by a sharp 29.06% over the past year, a rise that has exceeded that of the S&P 500 Index. Regarding the stock's future course, although almost any stock can fall in a broad market decline, GD should continue to move higher despite the fact that it has already enjoyed a very nice gain in the past year.
• GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP has improved earnings per share by 24.4% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP increased its bottom line by earning $7.83 versus $7.03 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($8.35 versus $7.83).
• The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Aerospace & Defense industry. The net income increased by 41.6% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from $495.00 million to $701.00 million.
• You can view the full analysis from the report here: GD Ratings Report