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

Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on the stock from $46.00 to $49.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a buy rating on the stock. Corning traded as high as $46.53 and last traded at $46.53, with a volume of 3493708 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $44.59.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on GLW. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Corning from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Fox Advisors upgraded shares of Corning from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of Corning in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Corning from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Corning from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.23.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Corning

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Corning by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,312,779 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $953,474,000 after purchasing an additional 2,597,878 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Corning by 35.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,200,828 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $566,941,000 after acquiring an additional 4,464,893 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Corning by 4.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,342,949 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $401,826,000 after purchasing an additional 426,864 shares during the period. FIL Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Corning by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,179,283 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $218,609,000 after purchasing an additional 105,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Corning by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,212,356 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $189,166,000 after buying an additional 1,828,097 shares during the period. 69.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Corning Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.66. The company has a market cap of $39.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The electronics maker reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.55 billion. Corning had a net margin of 3.53% and a return on equity of 12.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Corning Incorporated will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 224.00%.

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.