General Electric (GE) to Distribute Quarterly Dividend of $0.36 on April 25th

General Electric (NYSE:GE) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 14th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.36 per share by the conglomerate on Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28.

General Electric has increased its dividend by an average of 51.8% annually over the last three years. General Electric has a payout ratio of 17.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect General Electric to earn $6.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.4%.

General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of GE opened at $208.62 on Friday. General Electric has a 52 week low of $117.43 and a 52 week high of $211.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $182.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.22.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities analysts forecast that General Electric will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GE shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total value of $2,772,409.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. This represents a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.66% 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.