GE shares are rebounding from their rock bottom low of $6 in March and analysts at Morgan Stanley and Sanford Bernstein both put the 12-month target price for the shares at $17.

Yet the shares may rebound more than that in the next 12 months, unless there's a market "correction" or recession double dip. Shares had already reached $16 at the markets' close on September 16, up from $13.15 on July 31, and traded at $11.55 at the June 30 closing bell.

While Morgan Stanley and Sanford Bernstein agree on the price target, Morgan is telling investors to "overweight" the shares, while Sanford is saying the bellwether company will be "a market performer," that is, GE won't do any better than the average stock.

In an off-the-cuff remark he later regretted, Major Michael Bloomberg of New York said in March that "GE is a great company" and recommended buying the stock. While the mayor is a billionaire financier, as an elected official, his provision of direct investment advice drew public anger. Yet if investors had listened to him and bought the stock at $6, their return on investment would have been 266 percent to date.

Analysts counter that GE Capital is still "the issue" and until the financial arm is able to recoup its losses, the industry giant is still "under a cloud," so investors might have to wait a couple of years to see GE climb back to its stellar historic levels.

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