General Electric (NYSE:GE) Sets New 52-Week High Following Strong Earnings

General Electric (NYSE:GE – Get Rating)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $81.35 and last traded at $80.91, with a volume of 5879319 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.70.

The conglomerate reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $21.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.11 billion. General Electric had a positive return on equity of 7.20% and a negative net margin of 7.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is -5.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GE shares. Oppenheimer upgraded General Electric from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on General Electric from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on General Electric from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 19th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on General Electric from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on General Electric from $98.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.83.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Utah Retirement Systems lifted its holdings in General Electric by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 195,399 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $12,441,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. PFS Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in General Electric by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter. PFS Investments Inc. now owns 3,571 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in General Electric by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,159 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in General Electric by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 12,231 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $757,000 after buying an additional 1,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aspiriant LLC lifted its holdings in General Electric by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 4,596 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.12% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $88.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.22.

General Electric Company Profile

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General Electric Co is a high-tech industrial company. the firm operates through the following segments: Aviation, Healthcare, Renewable Energy, and Power. The Aviation segment designs and produces commercial and military aircraft engines, integrated engine components, electric power and mechanical aircraft systems.