PITTSBURGH (AP) — Shares of General Electric Co. rose Wednesday, as recent analyst upgrades and receding fear about the conglomerate’s lending arm helped push the stock into the black for 2009.

The rise capped a three-day rally also fueled by strong television ratings at its NBC-Universal property, said analyst Nicholas Heymann of Sterne Agee. An estimated 18.4 million viewers tuned in for the first night of “The Jay Leno Show” on Monday.

On Tuesday, Bernstein Research analyst Steven Winoker raised his price target and profit estimates for GE, pointing to improved expected margins for the NBC-Universal television property.

Last week, J.P. Morgan analyst Stephen Tusa raised his rating for Fairfield, Conn.-based GE to “Overweight” from “Neutral,” arguing investors have already digested most problems with the company’s lending arm.

Tusa wrote that fear still lingered over the health of GE Capital, especially on issues such as provisions for losses and rising costs of funding, but that the unit’s estimated losses looked “reasonable.”

Shares of GE climbed $1, or 6.3 percent, to close at $17. That was the highest closing level since Jan. 1, when the stock finished at $16.20. In after-hours trading, they slid a penny to $16.99.

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