General Electric (NYSE:GE) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $211.42 and last traded at $209.71, with a volume of 4593175 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $208.82.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of General Electric in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.73.

General Electric Trading Up 0.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $225.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.01, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $180.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 14.31%. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.70%.

Insider Activity at General Electric

In related news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total value of $2,772,409.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. This represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $668,000. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC raised its position in General Electric by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,041 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $674,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC raised its position in General Electric by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 6,654 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the period. Bornite Capital Management LP raised its position in General Electric by 149.9% in the fourth quarter. Bornite Capital Management LP now owns 212,400 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $35,426,000 after purchasing an additional 127,400 shares during the period. Finally, Yoffe Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $615,000. 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.