General Electric (NYSE:GE) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,540,000 shares, a growth of 5.9% from the July 31st total of 9,950,000 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 5,590,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

General Electric Stock Performance

GE traded up $1.04 during trading on Monday, reaching $174.62. 5,295,500 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,756,919. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $165.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $162.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.21. 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 $177.20.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $9.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.44 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that General Electric will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. General Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on General Electric from $148.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. UBS Group boosted their price target on General Electric from $201.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of General Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $190.38.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GE. USA Financial Formulas boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 24,042.9% in the fourth quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 10,140 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,294,000 after acquiring an additional 10,098 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 225,814 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $28,821,000 after acquiring an additional 5,997 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in General Electric by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,184,772 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $534,123,000 after buying an additional 318,245 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,444,222 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $11,288,136,000 after acquiring an additional 550,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sheets Smith Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $3,959,000. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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