March 04, 2009

General Electric Co. fell for a third day as investors speculated earnings will further erode and the finance unit may need more capital injections amid the worst conditions since the Great Depression.GE, which cut its annual dividend on Feb. 27 for the first time since 1938, declined 59 cents to $7.01 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Earlier the shares hit $6.85, the lowest price since Feb. 19, 1993.

The dividend cut, designed to save $9 billion a year, isn’t likely enough to stave off debt-rating downgrades and the company may have to put more money into GE Capital, analysts including Jason Feldman of UBS AG and Nicholas Heymann of Sterne Agee & Leach Inc. said in notes to clients today. Richard Hofmann, a debt analyst at CreditSights Inc., said the lower dividend is positive and yet likely just a first step.