General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading Up 1.7% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) rose 1.7% on Friday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $198.00 to $216.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. General Electric traded as high as $191.74 and last traded at $191.41. Approximately 807,030 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 6,404,721 shares. The stock had previously closed at $188.12.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on GE. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on General Electric in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $201.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on General Electric from $192.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on General Electric from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on General Electric from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on General Electric from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Electric currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Studio Investment Management LLC lifted its position in General Electric by 97.5% during the second quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Electric during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in General Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in General Electric during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in General Electric during the first quarter worth about $34,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Electric Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $207.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $166.60.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $9.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 7.66%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that General Electric will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.54%.

General Electric Company Profile

General Electric Company, doing business as GE Aerospace, designs and produces commercial and defense aircraft engines, integrated engine components, electric power, and mechanical aircraft systems. It also offers aftermarket services to support its products. The company operates in the United States, Europe, China, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa.