General Electric (NYSE:GE) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

General Electric (NYSE:GE) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $190.38.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on General Electric from $195.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. StockNews.com lowered General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on General Electric from $148.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GE. Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 37.9% in the 2nd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 211 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Allegheny Financial Group LTD increased its position in shares of General Electric by 1.4% during the second quarter. Allegheny Financial Group LTD now owns 4,489 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. now owns 2,910 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Certified Advisory Corp boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 6,572 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Argent Trust Co grew its stake in General Electric by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 10,737 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,707,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Electric Stock Performance

General Electric stock opened at $166.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $180.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.21. General Electric has a 1-year low of $84.42 and a 1-year high of $177.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $165.67 and a 200-day moving average of $163.09.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.21. General Electric had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 7.66%. The business had revenue of $9.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.2 EPS 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 paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. General Electric’s 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.