General Electric (NYSE:GE) Short Interest Update

General Electric (NYSE:GE) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,540,000 shares, an increase of 5.9% from the July 31st total of 9,950,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,590,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Newport Trust Company LLC bought a new stake in General Electric during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,613,332,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 2,818.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,749,560 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,237,930,000 after acquiring an additional 12,312,648 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,193,159,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 59,100,643 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $10,373,936,000 after acquiring an additional 5,309,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 221.6% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,121,741 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,250,079,000 after acquiring an additional 4,907,530 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $192.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $195.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.38.

General Electric Stock Performance

General Electric stock opened at $164.28 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $178.13 billion, a PE ratio of 53.86, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50-day moving average is $165.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $163.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. General Electric has a 1 year low of $84.42 and a 1 year high of $177.20.

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

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 36.72%.

About General Electric

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.