General Motors (NYSE:GM) Trading 2.1% Higher

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) shot up 2.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $48.64 and last traded at $48.53. 2,150,172 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 15,270,854 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.52.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of General Motors in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley cut General Motors from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $46.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of General Motors in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on General Motors from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.27.

General Motors Trading Down 0.1 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $55.47 billion, a PE ratio of 5.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.43.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $47.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.13 billion. General Motors had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 6.22%. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that General Motors will post 9.95 EPS for the current year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.87%.

General Motors declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 11th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the auto manufacturer to buy up to 10.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Motors

In related news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 2,302 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total transaction of $108,907.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,356 shares in the company, valued at $489,942.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 2,302 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total value of $108,907.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $489,942.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Paul A. Jacobson bought 25,000 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $44.11 per share, with a total value of $1,102,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 261,872 shares in the company, valued at $11,551,173.92. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in General Motors by 14.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 48,767,573 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,211,609,000 after buying an additional 6,201,777 shares in the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC grew its position in General Motors by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 20,237,820 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $726,942,000 after purchasing an additional 2,905,689 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in General Motors by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 18,097,486 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $650,062,000 after buying an additional 3,247,050 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in General Motors by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,951,561 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $601,730,000 after buying an additional 135,717 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of General Motors by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,922,021 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $600,291,000 after buying an additional 1,091,137 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

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.