GE Personal Investing: Personal Finance, Investor Information
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To buy GE stock you can either contact your broker, or you can use GE Stock Direct to buy shares of General Electric Company common stock conveniently and economically. GE Stock Direct also lets you buy shares online.
GE Stock Direct offers you the opportunity to buy shares of General Electric Company common stock conveniently and economically, even if you are not already a GE shareowner.
The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation is GE's transfer agent and administers all matters related to stock that is directly registered with GE.
GE common stock trades on the NYSE, under the symbol: GE.
The CUSIP Number for GE common stock is 3 6 9 6 0 4 1 0 3.
As of Dec. 31, 2008, there were 10,080 million shares of GE common stock outstanding.
GE is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (its principal market) and the Boston Stock Exchange. It also is listed on certain non-U.S. exchanges, including the London Stock Exchange and Euronext Paris.
GE was first incorporated in the state of New York on April 15, 1892.
1,000 shares of $100 par value were sold for $100 per share.
GE was traded on the NYSE for the first time on June 23, 1892. There was one trade of 50 shares at $108 per share. Currently millions of shares are bought and sold every day.
Since incorporation, there have been nine stock splits of GE's common stock:
| Year | Ratio | Certificate Date/Pay Date |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 3-for-1 | 5-May-00 |
| 1997 | 2-for-1 | 9-May-97 |
| 1994 | 2-for-1 | 13-May-94 |
| 1987 | 2-for-1 | 22-May-87 |
| 1983 | 2-for-1 | 1-Jun-83 |
| 1971 | 2-for-1 | 7-Jun-71 |
| 1954 | 3-for-1 | 11-Jun-54 |
| 1930 | 4-for-1 | Contact Us |
| 1926 | 4-for-1 | Contact Us |
One share purchased pre-1926 has become 4,608 shares today. There is no hard-and-fast rule governing when we might split our stock. However, the last few times we've split, the stock price was trading over $100 per share when the board made its recommendation to Shareowners that they vote to split the stock.
GE last raised its dividend on December 11, 2007, from $0.28 quarterly to $0.31 quarterly. That dividend increase marked the 32nd consecutive year in which GE raised its dividend. GE has paid a dividend every quarter since 1899. On February 27, 2009 the Board of Directors authorized a plan to reduce GE's quarterly dividend to $0.10 from $0.31 per outstanding share of common stock, effective for the second half of 2009.
See our Dividend Schedule webpage for a recent history of our dividends.
During 2007, GE repurchased 357.9 million shares for a total of $13.9 billion. As part of an effort to further strengthen the GE Capital balance sheet GE announced suspension of its stock buyback plan on September 25, 2008, after repurchasing $3.5 billion of GE stock through the third quarter of 2008.
GE does not have official dates as to when exactly earnings are released. Typically, we release earnings quarterly, in April, July, October and January. As a guideline, the following are the dates when we've released earnings in the last few years.
| First Quarter | Second Quarter | Third Quarter | Fourth Quarter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4/11/03 | 7/11/03 | 10/10/03 | 1/16/04 |
| 4/8/04 | 7/9/04 | 10/8/04 | 1/21/05 |
| 4/15/05 | 7/15/05 | 10/14/05 | 1/20/06 |
| 4/13/06 | 7/14/06 | 10/13/06 | 1/19/07 |
| 4/13/07 | 7/13/07 | 10/12/07 | 1/18/08 |
| 4/11/08 | 7/11/08 | 10/10/08 | 1/23/09 |
| 4/17/09 | 7/17/09 | 10/16/09 | 1/22/10 |
There is a clear overview of GE's lines of business and future growth opportunities in this year's annual report. You can also see a list of our principal affiliates (subsidiaries) as Exhibit 21 in the GE Form 10-K. You can check our SEC Filings website at: http://ir.10kwizard.com/files.php?source=329&welc_next=1&XCOMP=0
We are focused on investing in growth opportunities for tomorrow while delivering strong financial results today. A more detailed presentation of our operating philosophy and business objectives is clearly articulated each year in the Letter to Investors.
Our strategy creates strengths and capabilities, which, in turn, drive competitive advantage. The consistent execution of the same strategic principles year after year, provides the foundation to invest and deliver.
GE does not have any preferred stock outstanding that is available to the public.
However, GE does have $3 billion of perpetual preferred stock in a private offering to Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.
Other symbols you may have seen on the exchange include GEA, GED, GEC, GER, GEG, GEJ, GEP, and GEPRA. These symbols belong to what we refer to as Baby Bonds (a fixed income debt product) -- senior unsecured obligations of General Electric Capital Corporation. They are called Baby Bonds because of the small par amount of $25.
The symbol "GEP" is for GECC's Step-Up bond. Step-Up Bonds are multi-coupon notes, bearing a coupon that resets to a level higher than the previous coupon if the bond is not called. The bonds are callable and the initial coupon is fixed until the first call date.
These bonds are offered directly to investors through 325 non-affiliated broker dealers. For more information on any of the GE Capital Bonds products, contact your financial advisor.
A monthly wrap-up of key business events and news by Trevor Schauenberg, VP of Investor Communications.
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