General Electric (NYSE:GE) Expects $20 Billion in Discretionary Cash

General Electric (NYSE:GE) projects they'll have close to $20 billion in discretionary cash by the end of 2010.

Confidence in its performance across several segments has generated the renewed optimism, which included recently bumping up their quarterly dividend to $14 a share.

Canaccord noted, "For the second time in six months GE has raised its dividend, this time rewarding shareholders with an increase of 17%. The conglomerate announced it hiked its quarterly payment from $0.12 a share to $0.14, after raising it from $0.10 earlier in the year. 'We are able to increase the GE dividend for the second time this year because of continued strong cash generation, accelerated recovery at GE Capital and solid underlying performance in our industrial businesses,' CEO Jeffrey Immelt said in a statement. GE has projected it will have $20 billion in discretionary cash at year-end, after asset sales including a majority stake of NBC Universal to a venture run by Comcast (Nasdaq:CMCSA). Immelt should provide additional color on how this money will be spent when he discusses next year’s outlook with investors on December 14. The boost marks a return to GE’s pattern of announcing annual increases in the fourth quarter, which the company did from 1983 through 2007. This pattern was abruptly reversed in February 2009, when GE slashed its quarterly dividend to $0.10 from $0.31, about 68%, in the throes of the financial crisis. Earlier in the week, the head of GE’s big finance arm said it expects to resume paying a dividend to its parent in 2012. GE Capital once accounted for half the company’s profit but became an albatross during the crisis."

General Electric closed Monday at $17.62, down $0.10, or 0.56 percent.