Corning (NYSE:GLW) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Shares of Corning Incorporated reached a new 12-month high of $69.59 after an upgrade from UBS Group, which raised its price target from $65.00 to $84.00.
• Insiders have sold a total of 163,950 shares worth approximately $10.4 million in the last 90 days, with notable transactions by CFO Edward A. Schlesinger and CEO Wendell P. Weeks.
• Corning reported earnings of $0.60 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, and has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.28 to be paid on September 29th.

Shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after UBS Group upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. UBS Group now has a $84.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $65.00. Corning traded as high as $69.59 and last traded at $69.07, with a volume of 1420995 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $68.47.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on GLW. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating and set a $75.00 target price (up from $60.00) on shares of Corning in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Corning from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Corning in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Corning from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Corning from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.75.

Insider Activity at Corning

In related news, CFO Edward A. Schlesinger sold 14,082 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.28, for a total transaction of $877,026.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 78,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,877,520.48. This represents a 15.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Wendell P. Weeks sold 82,103 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.19, for a total transaction of $5,352,294.57. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 809,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $52,757,941.05. This represents a 9.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 163,950 shares of company stock worth $10,449,192 in the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Corning

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GLW. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Corning during the 2nd quarter valued at about $534,936,000. Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Corning in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $124,253,000. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Corning by 64.3% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 6,408,605 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $271,237,000 after buying an additional 2,507,797 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Corning in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $104,789,000. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Corning in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $92,560,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.80% of the company's stock.

Corning Stock Performance

The firm's 50 day moving average price is $59.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market cap of $59.38 billion, a PE ratio of 73.53, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.09.

Corning (NYSE:GLW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. Corning had a net margin of 5.77% and a return on equity of 17.27%. The business had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. Corning has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.630-0.670 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Corning's dividend payout ratio is 119.15%.

About Corning

Corning Incorporated engages in the display technologies, optical communications, environmental technologies, specialty materials, and life sciences businesses in the United States and internationally. The company's Display Technologies segment offers glass substrates for flat panel displays, including liquid crystal displays and organic light-emitting diodes that are used in televisions, notebook computers, desktop monitors, tablets, and handheld devices.

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