General Electric (NYSE:GE) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.36

General Electric (NYSE:GE) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 14th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.36 per share by the conglomerate on Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28.

General Electric has raised its dividend payment by an average of 51.8% per year over the last three years. General Electric has a dividend payout ratio of 17.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect General Electric to earn $6.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.4%.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of GE stock opened at $208.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $223.91 billion, a PE ratio of 34.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. General Electric has a twelve month low of $117.43 and a twelve month high of $211.42.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 22.19%. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on GE shares. Melius Research increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of General Electric in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total transaction of $2,772,409.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 148,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. This trade represents a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

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.