Essex Financial Services Inc. Has $335,000 Stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 15.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,629 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Corning were worth $335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Corning by 21.5% during the second quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,414 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY raised its holdings in Corning by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY now owns 13,500 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Corning by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 33,624 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,306,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. boosted its holdings in Corning by 1.0% during the second quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 28,863 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its position in shares of Corning by 0.4% in the first quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 83,551 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,754,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Corning Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GLW opened at $41.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $41.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.61. Corning Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $25.26 and a fifty-two week high of $46.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.04.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The electronics maker reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. Corning had a net margin of 3.53% and a return on equity of 12.69%. The business had revenue of $3.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Corning Incorporated will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Corning’s payout ratio is currently 157.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GLW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of Corning in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays increased their price objective on Corning from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho raised shares of Corning from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $44.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Corning from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Corning from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Corning currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Jeffrey W. Evenson sold 12,830 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.39, for a total transaction of $479,713.70. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 57,280 shares in the company, valued at $2,141,699.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.