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General Electric (GE) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, General Electric (GE - Free Report) closed at $12.38, marking a -1.43% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.43%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.5%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.26%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the industrial conglomerate had gained 0.8% over the past month. This has outpaced the Conglomerates sector's loss of 6.16% and the S&P 500's loss of 4.68% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from GE as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be October 30, 2018. In that report, analysts expect GE to post earnings of $0.21 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 27.59%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $29.88 billion, down 10.73% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $0.94 per share and revenue of $121.76 billion. These totals would mark changes of -10.48% and -0.27%, respectively, from last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for GE. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 3.3% lower. GE is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

Digging into valuation, GE currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 13.33. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 17.38.

Also, we should mention that GE has a PEG ratio of 2.42. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. Diversified Operations stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.78 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Diversified Operations industry is part of the Conglomerates sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 203, putting it in the bottom 20% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow GE in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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