Short Interest in General Motors (NYSE:GM) Increases By 6.6%

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) saw a large increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 62,120,000 shares, an increase of 6.6% from the May 31st total of 58,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 14,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days. Currently, 5.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Transactions at General Motors

In related news, President Mark L. Reuss sold 14,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.01, for a total transaction of $683,616.58. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 162,049 shares in the company, valued at $7,455,874.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, President Mark L. Reuss sold 14,858 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.01, for a total transaction of $683,616.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 162,049 shares in the company, valued at $7,455,874.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 626,316 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.46, for a total value of $27,219,693.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,198,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,093,242.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,152,621 shares of company stock worth $51,818,111 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Motors

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Unison Advisors LLC grew its position in General Motors by 0.4% in the first quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 67,196 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,047,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Motors by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. SkyOak Wealth LLC increased its position in General Motors by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. SkyOak Wealth LLC now owns 8,727 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc lifted its stake in General Motors by 39.7% in the 1st quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 897 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in General Motors by 2.2% in the first quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,013 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $545,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

General Motors Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE GM opened at $46.94 on Wednesday. General Motors has a 52 week low of $26.30 and a 52 week high of $49.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $45.67 and its 200 day moving average is $41.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.74, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.43.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.60. General Motors had a net margin of 6.13% and a return on equity of 14.40%. The firm had revenue of $43.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.09 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Motors will post 9.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Motors declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 11th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the auto manufacturer to buy up to 10.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. General Motors’s payout ratio is presently 5.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on GM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of General Motors from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of General Motors from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of General Motors from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on General Motors from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on General Motors from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Motors presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.91.

General Motors Company Profile

General Motors Company designs, builds, and sells trucks, crossovers, cars, and automobile parts; and provide software-enabled services and subscriptions worldwide. The company operates through GM North America, GM International, Cruise, and GM Financial segments. It markets its vehicles primarily under the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Baojun, and Wuling brand names.