Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates Outperform Rating for General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Royal Bank of Canada restated their outperform rating on shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $200.00 price target on the conglomerate’s stock.

GE has been the subject of several other research reports. Melius Research boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on General Electric from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.47.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GE opened at $188.20 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $203.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. General Electric has a 1-year low of $101.16 and a 1-year high of $194.80.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.02 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. Analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. General Electric’s payout ratio is 19.68%.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total transaction of $1,267,910.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,289 shares in the company, valued at $2,407,036.57. This trade represents a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the business’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 transaction of $2,772,409.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 148,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. The trade was a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in General Electric during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in General Electric during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in General Electric in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in General Electric in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

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.