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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 $11.32, marking a -0.61% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.13%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.23%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.54%.

Heading into today, shares of the industrial conglomerate had gained 28.12% over the past month, outpacing the Conglomerates sector's gain of 7.4% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.5% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from GE as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.08, down 61.9% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $21.57 billion, down 17.78% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $0.04 per share and revenue of $79.67 billion, which would represent changes of -93.85% and -24.64%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for GE. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1300% higher. GE is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Digging into valuation, GE currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 284.75. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 20.36, which means GE is trading at a premium to the group.

Investors should also note that GE has a PEG ratio of 67 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Diversified Operations was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.14 at yesterday's closing price.

The Diversified Operations industry is part of the Conglomerates sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 120, which puts it in the top 48% 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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