Opco sees dividend cut, downgrades GE to lowest rating

Oppenheimer analyst Christopher Glynn post today’s close downgraded General Electric to Underperform from Perform, his firm’s lowest stock rating. The current free cash flow yield is “insufficient to establish a conviction floor on the shares at current levels,” Glynn tells investors in a research note. The analyst believes a dividend cut is forthcoming and lowered his 2018 earnings per share estimate for the company to $1.15 from $1.75 following Friday’s Q3 results. Morgan Stanley and UBS also downgraded GE today while BofA/Merrill upgraded the stock to Buy. The shares closed the trading day down 6%, or $1.51, to $22.32.