Why General Electric's Shares Dropped 8% Today

Shares of industrial giant General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) dropped as much as 8.2% in trading Monday after the company announced a dividend reduction and reduced guidance. Shares slipped throughout the day and were down 8% at 2:50 p.m. EST.

The dividend will be reduced from $0.24 per share quarterly to $0.12 per share, saving the company about $4 billion per year. A dividend cut was widely expected, but the scale of the cut may have caught some investors by surprise.

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Source: Fool.com