General Electric (GE) announced earnings this week and the company’s earnings show that GE is on the right track. Total revenue was up 6% as the company made over $38 billion dollars this past quarter. Earnings were up over 50% as the industrial giant crushed Wall Street estimates. Things were even positive at GE Capital as the division earned nearly $2 billion dollars in net income. That is just the start of the good news.
General Electric’s Dividend Increase
General Electric is a cash cow with $82 billion dollars in cash. The company is rewarding shareholders with its excess liquidity by boosting its dividend payout by four cents. General Electric will now pay shareholders 60 cents a share. This is almost half of the old dividend rate of $1.24 per year but it is a step in the right direction.
General Electric is making my list of quality dividend stocks because of the recent dividend increases. GE increased its dividend twice in 2010. The dividend has jumped 50% from the 40 cent annual dividend that the company was paying back in early 2010. The current yield is now back above 3%.
Before the crisis in 2008, I would not have bought shares of General Electric as I felt that the company had been rudderless since the departure of CEO Jack Welch. The reduction in size of GE Capital and the smart infrastructure and healthcare investments that GE is marking has made the stock one of my favorite long term dividend investing stocks.
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