Corning (NYSE:GLW) Reaches New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on the stock from $46.00 to $49.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a buy rating on the stock. Corning traded as high as $46.53 and last traded at $46.53, with a volume of 3493708 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $44.59.

GLW has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Corning from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Corning from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Corning from $47.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Corning in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Corning from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.23.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Corning

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Corning by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 21,003 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,432 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Corning during the 4th quarter worth $9,473,000. FIL Ltd lifted its position in Corning by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,179,283 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $218,609,000 after acquiring an additional 105,994 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Corning in the fourth quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Corning during the fourth quarter worth about $710,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Corning Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $39.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.04, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.66.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The electronics maker reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. Corning had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 3.53%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Corning Incorporated will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Corning’s payout ratio is currently 224.00%.

About Corning

Corning Incorporated engages in the display technologies, optical communications, environmental technologies, specialty materials, and life sciences businesses in the United States and internationally. The company's Display Technologies segment offers glass substrates for flat panel displays, including liquid crystal displays and organic light-emitting diodes that are used in televisions, notebook computers, desktop monitors, tablets, and handheld devices.