Corning’s (GLW) “Overweight” Rating Reaffirmed at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley restated their overweight rating on shares of Corning (NYSE:GLW) in a research note published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $35.00 target price on the electronics maker’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Susquehanna reaffirmed a positive rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Corning in a report on Monday, April 1st. HSBC lowered Corning from a hold rating to a reduce rating and set a $29.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on Corning from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Corning from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Corning from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Corning has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $34.78.

Corning Stock Performance

Shares of Corning stock opened at $31.56 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $26.99 billion, a PE ratio of 47.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.08. Corning has a 52 week low of $25.26 and a 52 week high of $36.01. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $32.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The electronics maker reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.39. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. Corning had a return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 4.62%. Corning’s quarterly revenue was down 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Corning will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 167.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Lawrence D. Mcrae sold 77,464 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.24, for a total value of $2,574,903.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 215,254 shares in the company, valued at $7,155,042.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Corning

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its position in Corning by 5.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 101,322 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,087,000 after purchasing an additional 5,616 shares in the last quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Corning during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,199,000. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Corning by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,871 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,926 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Corning by 59.8% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 108,358 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,300,000 after purchasing an additional 40,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Corning by 6.6% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,883,126 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $240,199,000 after purchasing an additional 490,638 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

About Corning

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.