GE Vernova Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:GEV)

GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 15,340 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 33% compared to the average volume of 11,563 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GE Vernova

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of GE Vernova by 10.0% in the 3rd 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 acquired a new stake in GE Vernova during the 4th quarter worth about $206,000. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in GE Vernova in the third quarter worth approximately $1,101,000. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in shares of GE Vernova by 127.0% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 5,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after acquiring an additional 2,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fractal Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of GE Vernova during the third quarter valued at about $1,530,000.

GE Vernova Stock Up 7.3 %

Shares of GEV stock traded up $25.63 on Thursday, reaching $378.88. The company had a trading volume of 3,335,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,221,575. The business’s 50-day moving average is $353.99 and its 200 day moving average is $276.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.44 billion and a PE ratio of 68.15. GE Vernova has a one year low of $115.00 and a one year high of $447.50.

GE Vernova (NYSE:GEV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.57). The firm had revenue of $10.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.70 billion. GE Vernova had a return on equity of 6.70% and a net margin of 4.44%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that GE Vernova will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GE Vernova Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.26%. GE Vernova’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.99%.

GE Vernova announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 6.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GEV shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of GE Vernova from $360.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on GE Vernova from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of GE Vernova from $385.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of GE Vernova from $348.00 to $391.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on GE Vernova from $361.00 to $437.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, GE Vernova presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $342.94.

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.