General Electric (NYSE:GE) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $176.00.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com began coverage on General Electric in a research note on Monday, April 29th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $191.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GE. Burney Co. increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 64.0% in the first quarter. Burney Co. now owns 3,163 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares during the period. First City Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in General Electric during the 1st quarter worth $275,000. BigSur Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the first quarter worth about $2,354,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in General Electric in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,269,000. Finally, Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. lifted its holdings in General Electric by 36.1% in the first quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 15,024 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $2,637,000 after buying an additional 3,985 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company's stock.

General Electric Stock Performance

GE traded up $4.45 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $165.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,395,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,619,203. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company's 50-day moving average is $162.43 and its 200-day moving average is $143.06. General Electric has a 52 week low of $79.76 and a 52 week high of $170.80. The firm has a market cap of $180.90 billion, a PE ratio of 54.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.25.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. General Electric's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is an increase from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. General Electric's payout ratio is presently 36.72%.

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.