Citigroup Boosts General Electric (NYSE:GE) Price Target to $216.00

General Electric (NYSE:GE) had its price objective hoisted by Citigroup from $198.00 to $216.00 in a research note released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on General Electric from $192.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com lowered General Electric from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Barclays raised their price target on General Electric from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on General Electric from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on General Electric from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $195.14.

General Electric Stock Performance

NYSE GE opened at $191.16 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $207.28 billion, a PE ratio of 45.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.85. General Electric has a 1-year low of $84.42 and a 1-year high of $191.76.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $9.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.44 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 7.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that General Electric will post 4.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. 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 0.59%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in General Electric by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,444,222 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,288,136,000 after purchasing an additional 550,996 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in General Electric by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 59,100,643 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,373,936,000 after purchasing an additional 5,309,543 shares during the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,613,332,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in General Electric by 2,818.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,749,560 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,237,930,000 after purchasing an additional 12,312,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in General Electric by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,405,731 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,336,257,000 after purchasing an additional 459,201 shares during the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.