Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, June 29, 2018

Article Excerpt

GENERAL ELECTRIC CO., $13.61, New York symbol GE, cut its quarterly dividend by 50.0% with the January 2018 payment, to $0.12 a share from $0.24. That new annual rate of $0.48 yields 3.5%. The company cut the payment to conserve cash while it restructures its operations. The plan includes cutting jobs, closing some facilities and selling less-important operations. At the same time, GE’s new CEO John Flannery launched a strategic review of the company’s operations. As a result, GE will narrow its focus to three main businesses: electrical power equipment (such as turbines and related equipment for gas-fired and nuclear power plants); renewable power equipment for wind farms and hydroelectric plants; and aviation products (jet engines and aircraft electronic systems). The company will also spin off its healthcare operations as a separate firm. That business makes a variety of electrical equipment for hospitals and medical clinics, including magnetic resonance imaging machines. It accounted for 15% of GE’s 2017 revenue of $125.3 billion. GE will initially…