If You Invested $1,000 In General Electric Stock One Year Ago, Here's How Much You'd Have Now

Investors who have owned stocks in the past year have generally experienced some big gains. But there is no question some big-name stocks performed better than others along the way.

GE’s Big Run: One company that has been a decent investment in the past year has been industrial giant General Electric Company GE.

GE has been one of the blue chip stocks in the U.S. market for over a century and was one of the original Dow Jones Industrial Average components. But a difficult energy environment coupled with some questionable accounting, ill-timed investments and poor balance sheet management created a perfect storm for GE investors in recent years.

In 2019, GE generated a net loss of $4.98 billion on $95.21 billion in revenue. In 2020, GE’s revenue shrunk to $79.62 billion, but its net income swung to positive $5.7 billion.

See also: How to Buy GE Stock

At the beginning of 2020, GE shares were trading around $11.20. By the beginning of March, the stock was trading at around the same level even after news of COVID-19 spreading in China prompted concerns about a U.S. pandemic. On March 18, GE shares dropped all the way down to $5.90 in intraday trading. The stock ultimately hit its pandemic low of $5.48 in May after the company said it was cutting 13,000 aviation jobs.

In October, GE investors were hit once again by the company’s legacy accounting issues when GE reported it had received a Wells notice from the SEC indicating the regulator may take civil action against the company related to an ongoing investigation into its power and insurance businesses. Fortunately, GE agreed to pay a $200 million fine to the SEC in December that officially ended all ongoing investigations.

GE shares finished 2020 back above $10 on vaccine optimism.

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GE In 2021, Beyond: The stock ultimately hit its post-pandemic high of $14.40 in early March 2021, before pulling back to $13.23.

GE investors who bought one year ago and held on have ultimately been rewarded for their patience. In fact, $1,000 in GE stock bought on March 30, 2020 would be worth about $1,737 today, assuming reinvested dividends.

Looking ahead, analysts are expecting GE shares to grind even higher in the next 12 months. The average price target among the 15 analysts covering the stock is $14, suggesting 5.9% upside from current levels.

(Photo: Momoneymoproblemz via Wiki Commons)