General Electric (NYSE:GE) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $130.43.

GE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TheStreet cut General Electric from a "b-" rating to a "c" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 24th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Wednesday, September 27th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $141.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded General Electric from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $115.00 to $144.00 in a report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on General Electric in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GE. TCI Fund Management Ltd. acquired a new position in General Electric during the first quarter valued at $2,496,379,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 122,242.2% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,438,063 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $878,644,000 after buying an additional 13,427,079 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in General Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $635,274,000. State Street Corp raised its position in General Electric by 17.3% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,490,012 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $4,639,533,000 after acquiring an additional 7,157,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its holdings in General Electric by 106,570.5% in the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 6,248,759 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $686,426,000 after acquiring an additional 6,242,901 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.83% of the company's stock.

General Electric Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE GE opened at $126.69 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. General Electric has a 52 week low of $62.88 and a 52 week high of $128.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.28, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a fifty day moving average of $116.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.95.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The conglomerate reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $17.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.46 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 11.10%. The firm's revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. On average, analysts predict that General Electric will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 28th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 27th. General Electric's dividend payout ratio is presently 3.61%.

General Electric Company Profile

General Electric Company operates as a high-tech industrial company in Europe, China, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa. It offers gas and steam turbines, full balance of plant, upgrade, and service solutions, as well as data-leveraging software for power generation, industrial, government, and other customers.

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