General Electric (NYSE:GE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

General Electric (NYSE:GE) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fifteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $211.31.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of General Electric in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

General Electric Price Performance

GE opened at $203.99 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $218.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.06, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $198.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.15. General Electric has a twelve month low of $133.99 and a twelve month high of $212.19.

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

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric’s payout ratio is 24.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. M1 Capital Management LLC bought a new position in General Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $760,000. DSG Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $546,000. Chancellor Financial Group WB LP bought a new position in General Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $560,000. CWC Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in General Electric by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 7,025 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,172,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in General Electric by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 581,337 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $96,961,000 after purchasing an additional 34,994 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

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.