General Electric (NYSE:GE) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $212.20 and last traded at $212.27, with a volume of 644459 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $210.23.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on GE. Bank of America increased their price target on General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.31.

General Electric Trading Up 0.6 %

The business has a 50 day moving average of $199.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $227.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 14.31%. Equities analysts predict that General Electric will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GE. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,815,318 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $14,980,297,000 after buying an additional 410,172 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in General Electric by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 66,823,968 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,145,570,000 after purchasing an additional 965,012 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of General Electric by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,181,801,000 after purchasing an additional 898,296 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of General Electric by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,117,418 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,846,587,000 after purchasing an additional 529,457 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $2,375,439,000. Institutional investors own 74.77% 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.