Goldman Sachs Raises GE... on Barney Frank (GE)

It seems that the sudden relief of political and regulatory pressure against General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) caught more than just our eyes after the close yesterday.  The conglomerate and financial giant saw its shares raised at Goldman Sachs to Buy from Neutral based upon the fears of a separation from manufacturing and financial units having to be split are going away.  That is after Barney Frank said he does not think that needs to remain as an issue.

Goldman Sachs also lifted its target price for the stock to $15.00, up from $13.00 before. The firm believes that this strengthen the view that legislative support for reform requiring the separation of GE Capital is declining.

The analyst believes that this would have or could have cost Goldman Sachs in the vicinity of $40 billion.  It now sees an outcome of a separation being down to 25%, rather than a 50-50 chance before the interview.

As you will see here, a GE spokesperson gave us some exclusive comments after that interview came out.  Our only take on the Goldman Sachs call is that this price target may be too low.  If the economy does not double dip and if GE is allowed to operate within its current structure and things continue to normalize in the economy, then that $15.00 target is likely to prove to be far too conservative.

GE shares closed at $12.26 yesterday and we have shares indicated up around $12.70 with more than two hours until the market opens for trading.

Jon C. Ogg
July 30, 2009