General Electric (NYSE:GE) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

General Electric (NYSE:GE) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 15,670,000 shares, an increase of 36.3% from the February 13th total of 11,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,440,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 236 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE increased its position in shares of General Electric by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 334 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in General Electric by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC now owns 2,093 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC boosted its position in General Electric by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 1,466 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Heartland Consultants Inc. grew its stake in General Electric by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc. now owns 4,729 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $789,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Electric Stock Up 2.6 %

NYSE:GE traded up $4.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $197.39. The company had a trading volume of 3,261,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,304,231. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $195.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $183.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.95, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19. General Electric has a 1 year low of $131.91 and a 1 year high of $212.19. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 14.31%. Equities analysts forecast that General Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 24.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GE shares. Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America increased their target price on General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group lifted their price target on General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.31.

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.