GE looks to a capital quarterly profit
GE Capital to show strength amid higher industrial demand
General Electric Co. is expected to report a higher fourth-quarter profit later this week as the conglomerate rights its troubled financial-serviced business amid accelerating demand for its industrial products.
Analysts polled by FactSet Research expect GE to post earnings of 31 cents a share, up from 28 cents a share in the year-earlier period.
“We’ll have a good fourth quarter,” Chairman and Chief Executive Jeff Immelt said during a recent investor conference. “Performance is strengthening ... and we see good momentum as we think about going into 2011 and beyond.”
In December, the Dow Jones Industrial Average component raised its annual dividend by 17% to 56 cents a share.
Shares of GE (GE 18.66, +0.06, +0.32%) are up about 13.5% for the year as signs point to global economic growth, modest as it might be. The stock hit a 52-week high in April at $19.70 before concern about a double-dip recession sent it plunging in July to $13.75.
“Calculating the rate of improvement and the future mix of GE’s industrial versus financial-service earnings currently remains more an art than a science,” said Sterne Agee analyst Nicholas Heymann. “The direction is positive, but the pace of improvement remains far harder to calculate.”
Sterne Agee has a neutral rating on GE stock with a $21 price target....MORE
