General Electric (NYSE:GE) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) in a research report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $201.00 price target on the conglomerate’s stock.

GE has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of General Electric from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $195.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Electric currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $191.14.

General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of General Electric stock opened at $178.28 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $171.42. General Electric has a 12 month low of $84.42 and a 12 month high of $179.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.45, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.18.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.21. General Electric had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The firm had revenue of $9.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. General Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Electric will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. General Electric’s payout ratio is 36.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GE. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,613,332,000. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 2,818.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,749,560 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,237,930,000 after purchasing an additional 12,312,648 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter worth about $1,193,159,000. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 59,100,643 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $10,373,936,000 after purchasing an additional 5,309,543 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 221.6% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,121,741 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,250,079,000 after purchasing an additional 4,907,530 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.