GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE) Shares Up 1.2% – Here’s Why

GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE) shares shot up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $219.98 and last traded at $217.56. 1,625,339 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 5,343,360 shares. The stock had previously closed at $214.96.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GE. Bank of America increased their price objective on GE Aerospace from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on GE Aerospace from $212.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on GE Aerospace from $235.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Northcoast Research raised GE Aerospace from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on GE Aerospace in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, GE Aerospace currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.92.

GE Aerospace Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The company’s fifty day moving average is $195.24 and its 200 day moving average is $187.97. The company has a market cap of $233.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.31.

GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.20. GE Aerospace had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 22.19%. The company had revenue of $9.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.06 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that GE Aerospace will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GE Aerospace Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a positive change from GE Aerospace’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. GE Aerospace’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other GE Aerospace news, VP Robert M. Giglietti sold 4,104 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.73, for a total value of $807,379.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,270,264.20. This represents a 26.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Mohamed Ali sold 1,602 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.67, for a total value of $321,473.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,766,899.35. This trade represents a 15.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GE Aerospace

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in GE Aerospace by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,507,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,115,065,000 after buying an additional 692,124 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in GE Aerospace by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 66,823,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,145,570,000 after purchasing an additional 965,012 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in GE Aerospace by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,117,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,846,587,000 after purchasing an additional 529,457 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in GE Aerospace during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,375,439,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in GE Aerospace by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,046,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,675,717,000 after purchasing an additional 553,104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

About GE Aerospace

GE Aerospace (also known as General Electric) is a company that specializes in providing aerospace products and services. It operates through two reportable segments: Commercial Engines and Services and Defense and Propulsion Technologies. It offers jet and turboprop engines, as well as integrated systems for commercial, military, business, and general aviation aircraft.