General Electric (NYSE:GE) Upgraded to “Buy” at Northcoast Research

Northcoast Research upgraded shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $205.00 price target on the conglomerate’s stock.

GE has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of General Electric from $250.00 to $203.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of General Electric in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.73.

General Electric Trading Down 4.4 %

GE stock traded down $8.33 on Wednesday, hitting $178.95. 3,960,887 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,471,500. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $192.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.04. General Electric has a twelve month low of $146.78 and a twelve month high of $214.21. The business’s fifty day moving average is $199.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $186.70.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.36 dividend. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GE. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $2,375,439,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in General Electric by 23,611.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,065,997 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,013,959,000 after acquiring an additional 5,044,632 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in General Electric by 87.7% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,581,799 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $597,412,000 after acquiring an additional 1,673,365 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in General Electric by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,544,757 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,591,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,204,910 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $194,208,000. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.