Corning Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:GLW)

Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 92,077 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 580% compared to the average volume of 13,541 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Corning

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GLW. City Holding Co. increased its holdings in Corning by 545.5% in the 3rd quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 710 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new stake in Corning in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc acquired a new stake in Corning during the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Corning during the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Corning in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Corning from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of Corning in a report on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Corning from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Corning from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Corning from $40.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Corning presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.08.

Corning Stock Performance

GLW traded down $0.16 during trading on Thursday, reaching $47.05. 3,469,061 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,688,400. Corning has a 1 year low of $27.57 and a 1 year high of $51.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 277.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.33.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.72 billion. Corning had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 13.45%. Corning’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Corning will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 658.82%.

Corning Company Profile

Corning Incorporated engages in the display technologies, optical communications, environmental technologies, specialty materials, and life sciences businesses in the United States and internationally. The company's Display Technologies segment offers glass substrates for flat panel displays, including liquid crystal displays and organic light-emitting diodes that are used in televisions, notebook computers, desktop monitors, tablets, and handheld devices.