GE Vernova Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:GEV)

GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 15,340 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 33% compared to the average volume of 11,563 call options.

GE Vernova Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GEV opened at $372.70 on Friday. GE Vernova has a fifty-two week low of $115.00 and a fifty-two week high of $447.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $354.82 and its 200 day moving average is $277.23. The company has a market capitalization of $102.74 billion and a P/E ratio of 67.03.

GE Vernova (NYSE:GEV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.57). GE Vernova had a net margin of 4.44% and a return on equity of 6.70%. The company had revenue of $10.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.70 billion. GE Vernova’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that GE Vernova will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

GE Vernova Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. GE Vernova’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.99%.

GE Vernova declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 10th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 6.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim lowered GE Vernova from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on GE Vernova from $385.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on GE Vernova from $385.00 to $411.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of GE Vernova from $446.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of GE Vernova from $420.00 to $487.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $342.94.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GEV. Waverton Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in GE Vernova by 10.0% during the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 727,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,459,000 after purchasing an additional 66,455 shares during the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GE Vernova during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in GE Vernova in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,101,000. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in GE Vernova by 127.0% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 5,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,297,000 after buying an additional 2,847 shares during the period. Finally, Fractal Investments LLC purchased a new position in GE Vernova in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,530,000.

GE Vernova Company Profile

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.