GE Vernova (NYSE:GEV) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $330.00, but opened at $351.42. GE Vernova shares last traded at $338.15, with a volume of 2,086,546 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on GEV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on GE Vernova from $374.00 to $436.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of GE Vernova in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on GE Vernova from $446.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on GE Vernova from $348.00 to $391.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on GE Vernova from $385.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $342.94.

GE Vernova Stock Up 1.8 %

The stock has a market cap of $92.62 billion and a PE ratio of 60.55. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $353.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $274.72.

GE Vernova (NYSE:GEV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.57). The company had revenue of $10.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.70 billion. GE Vernova had a return on equity of 6.70% and a net margin of 4.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that GE Vernova Inc. will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current year.

GE Vernova Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. GE Vernova’s payout ratio is currently 17.99%.

GE Vernova declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 10th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 6.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC bought a new position in GE Vernova in the third quarter valued at $2,507,296,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in GE Vernova by 35,238.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,435,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,098,000 after acquiring an additional 1,431,729 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in GE Vernova by 83.1% in the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,560,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,704,000 after acquiring an additional 1,161,901 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in GE Vernova by 4,735.0% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 725,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,388,000 after acquiring an additional 710,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in GE Vernova by 2.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 24,047,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,131,677,000 after acquiring an additional 584,208 shares during the last quarter.

About GE Vernova

GE Vernova LLC, an energy business company, generates electricity. It operates under three segments: Power, Wind, and Electrification. The Power segments generates and sells electricity through hydro, gas, nuclear, and steam power. Wind segment engages in the manufacturing and sale of wind turbine blades; and Electrification segment provides grid solutions, power conversion, solar, and storage solutions.