General Electric (NYSE:GE) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Dividend Announcement

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $180.48 and last traded at $178.88, with a volume of 727320 shares. The stock had previously closed at $178.28.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on GE shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on General Electric from $195.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.14.

General Electric Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $167.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.87. The firm has a market cap of $197.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $9.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its position in General Electric by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 11,957 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,526,000 after acquiring an additional 4,354 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $477,000. Sachetta LLC bought a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter worth approximately $167,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in General Electric by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 229,376 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $29,275,000 after acquiring an additional 16,952 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.