Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, November 2, 2018

Article Excerpt

GENERAL ELECTRIC CO., $9.28, New York symbol GE, fell 20% this week after the company cut its dividend and revealed that the Department of Justice is investigating its accounting practices. Starting with the first quarterly payment in 2019, GE will reduce its dividend by 91.7%, to $0.01 a share from $0.12. The new annual rate of $0.04 yields just 0.4%. The cut should save the company $3.9 billion a year. GE is also writing down the value of its Power division by $22.0 billion. That’s because the gas turbine businesses it acquired from France’s Alstom SA in 2016 have suffered as more electrical utilities shift to renewable power sources. In response, GE now plans to split its Power division into two new units: one will focus on equipment for natural gas-fired power plants; and one will make equipment for steam and nuclear power plants, and electrical transmission grids. As a result of the writedown, GE lost $22.8 billion, or $2.63 a share, in the…