GE Vernova (NYSE:GEV) Trading 1.6% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV) shares shot up 1.6% during trading on Wednesday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $360.00 to $420.00. The stock traded as high as $434.10 and last traded at $422.47. 2,377,028 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 15% from the average session volume of 2,791,498 shares. The stock had previously closed at $416.00.

GEV has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of GE Vernova from $367.00 to $374.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen started coverage on GE Vernova in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on GE Vernova from $385.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup upped their target price on GE Vernova from $292.00 to $361.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of GE Vernova in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, GE Vernova has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $326.85.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GE Vernova

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GEV. Waverton Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in GE Vernova by 10.0% in the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 727,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,459,000 after acquiring an additional 66,455 shares during the period. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in GE Vernova during the third quarter worth $1,101,000. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in GE Vernova by 127.0% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 5,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after buying an additional 2,847 shares during the period. Fractal Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of GE Vernova in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,530,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of GE Vernova in the second quarter valued at approximately $293,699,000.

GE Vernova Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $347.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $268.31.

GE Vernova (NYSE:GEV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.57). GE Vernova had a return on equity of 4.22% and a net margin of 3.67%. The company had revenue of $10.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.70 billion. GE Vernova’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that GE Vernova Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GE Vernova Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th.

GE Vernova declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 10th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 6.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About GE Vernova

GE Vernova LLC, an energy business company, generates electricity. It operates under three segments: Power, Wind, and Electrification. The Power segments generates and sells electricity through hydro, gas, nuclear, and steam power. Wind segment engages in the manufacturing and sale of wind turbine blades; and Electrification segment provides grid solutions, power conversion, solar, and storage solutions.