Dividend.com: Step Aside as Exxon Drops

Chevron is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars.

General Electric Matches Lowered Estimates

General Electric(GE Quote) just reported that its third-quarter profit fell 22%, as the company was hurt by lower earnings at its finance business.

Leading the lowered profits was a 33% profit decline at GE Capital, its struggling finance arm that handles leases and loans. There was also an 82% drop in profit at GE's consumer and industrial unit, which manufactures household appliances and other products.

The company has begun to take steps to reduce its leverage, with its recent $12 billion common stock offering and $3 billion in preferred shares sold to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (albeit the Buffett deal comes at a price, with its guaranteed 10% dividend).

The tough earnings report is out of the way, and it's now time to see if GE stock can regain the $22.25 print price of its offering. That price will be a key confidence level we will be looking at. For now, we would still remain on the sidelines on GE shares, as we are still not sure how viable the current dividend payout will be.

General Electric is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com rating of 3.2 out of 5 stars.

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