Corning (NYSE:GLW) Reaches New 12-Month High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Corning's stock reached a new 52-week high, trading at $72.54, with analysts raising their target prices significantly; UBS Group now predicts a target of $84.00.
• The company reported earnings of $0.60 per share for Q2, exceeding expectations and forecasted further growth with Q3 guidance at 0.630-0.670 EPS.
• Corning recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.28, with an annual yield of 1.6%, although its dividend payout ratio stands at a high 119.15%.

Shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $72.54 and last traded at $72.09, with a volume of 13081052 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $71.19.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Corning from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Barclays lifted 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. Morgan Stanley set a $56.00 target price on shares of Corning and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup lifted 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. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Corning from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.75.

Corning Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.75 billion, a PE ratio of 76.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.09. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $60.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.82.

Corning (NYSE:GLW - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.84 billion. Corning had a net margin of 5.77% and a return on equity of 17.27%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. Corning has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.630-0.670 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Corning's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 119.15%.

Insider Transactions at Corning

In related news, SVP Michael Paul O'day sold 14,879 shares of Corning stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.36, for a total value of $927,854.44. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 35,743 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,228,933.48. This trade represents a 29.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lewis A. Steverson sold 16,646 shares of Corning stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.22, for a total transaction of $1,035,714.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,759 shares in the company, valued at $2,473,804.98. This represents a 29.51% 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 ninety days. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Corning

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Corning by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,952,109 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $5,151,301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,895 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Corning by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,568,973 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,923,162,000 after purchasing an additional 509,013 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Corning by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,443,525 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,018,629,000 after purchasing an additional 112,739 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Corning by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,763,148 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $724,432,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Corning during the 2nd quarter worth $534,936,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.80% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.