Corning (NYSE:GLW) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Corning (NYSE:GLW) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Corning from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Corning from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Corning from $40.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective (up from $51.00) on shares of Corning in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.77.

Corning Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:GLW opened at $47.90 on Tuesday. Corning has a one year low of $29.71 and a one year high of $51.03. The company has a market cap of $41.01 billion, a PE ratio of 281.76, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $47.76 and a 200-day moving average of $43.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.72 billion. Corning had a return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 1.24%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Corning will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Corning’s payout ratio is currently 658.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Corning

In other Corning news, SVP John P. Bayne, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of Corning stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.39, for a total value of $241,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $324,213. The trade was a 42.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP John P. Bayne, Jr. sold 8,876 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.09, for a total value of $435,722.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Corning

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Corning by 1.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 890,981 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $40,228,000 after purchasing an additional 12,451 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Corning by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 91,821 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $4,130,000 after buying an additional 26,097 shares during the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Corning by 105.1% during the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,259 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 1,670 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Corning by 48.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 191,648 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $8,975,000 after buying an additional 62,514 shares during the period. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Corning by 0.7% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 51,821 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,339,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

About Corning

Corning Incorporated engages in the display technologies, optical communications, environmental technologies, specialty materials, and life sciences businesses in the United States and internationally. The company's Display Technologies segment offers glass substrates for flat panel displays, including liquid crystal displays and organic light-emitting diodes that are used in televisions, notebook computers, desktop monitors, tablets, and handheld devices.