Analysts Set General Electric (NYSE:GE) Price Target at $191.36

General Electric (NYSE:GE) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $191.36.

A number of brokerages recently commented on GE. UBS Group raised their price target on General Electric from $201.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $201.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $192.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th.

General Electric Price Performance

NYSE:GE opened at $186.30 on Wednesday. General Electric has a 52-week low of $84.42 and a 52-week high of $190.88. The company has a market cap of $203.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $172.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.45.

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

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.72%.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of General Electric by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,444,222 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $11,288,136,000 after buying an additional 550,996 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 9.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 59,100,643 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,373,936,000 after purchasing an additional 5,309,543 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the second quarter valued at $2,613,332,000. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in General Electric by 2,818.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,749,560 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,237,930,000 after buying an additional 12,312,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of General Electric by 5.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,405,731 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,336,257,000 after purchasing an additional 459,201 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Company Profile

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.