Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.38.

Several brokerages have weighed in on GLW. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 target price (up from $40.00) on shares of Corning in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Corning from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $37.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Corning in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Fox Advisors upgraded shares of Corning from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Corning from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th.

Corning Price Performance

NYSE GLW opened at $42.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $39.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.80. Corning has a 52-week low of $25.26 and a 52-week high of $46.39. The company has a market cap of $36.67 billion, a PE ratio of 60.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.05.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The electronics maker reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.12 billion. Corning had a net margin of 4.96% and a return on equity of 12.31%. Corning’s revenue was down 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Corning will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 157.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lewis A. Steverson sold 29,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.05, for a total transaction of $990,772.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 31,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,034,266.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Jeffrey W. Evenson sold 103,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.19, for a total transaction of $3,433,074.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 70,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,326,950.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lewis A. Steverson sold 29,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.05, for a total transaction of $990,772.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,034,266.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 175,207 shares of company stock valued at $5,876,067 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Corning

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Corning by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,312,779 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $953,474,000 after buying an additional 2,597,878 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Corning by 35.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,200,828 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $566,941,000 after buying an additional 4,464,893 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Corning by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,722,106 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $296,054,000 after buying an additional 146,807 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Corning during the fourth quarter valued at $247,721,000. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its position in Corning by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,179,283 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $218,609,000 after buying an additional 105,994 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

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.