HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC lifted its position in General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 201.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 117,627 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 78,622 shares during the quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC’s holdings in General Motors were worth $5,465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of General Motors by 14.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 48,767,573 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $2,211,609,000 after acquiring an additional 6,201,777 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in General Motors during the 1st quarter worth about $159,750,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in General Motors by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 18,097,486 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $650,062,000 after purchasing an additional 3,247,050 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC raised its position in General Motors by 16.8% in the 4th 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. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its stake in shares of General Motors by 1,213.0% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 2,203,771 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $79,159,000 after buying an additional 2,035,925 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $489,942.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other General Motors news, CFO Paul A. Jacobson purchased 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $44.11 per share, for a total transaction 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Rory Harvey sold 2,302 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total value of $108,907.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $489,942.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GM. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of General Motors in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of General Motors from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $53.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday. UBS Group raised their price target on General Motors from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on General Motors from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.17.

General Motors Stock Performance

NYSE GM opened at $48.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $54.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.43. General Motors has a 52-week low of $26.30 and a 52-week high of $50.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $46.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.39. General Motors had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 6.22%. The company had revenue of $47.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.13 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.91 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that General Motors will post 9.95 earnings per share for the current year.

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

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. General Motors’s payout ratio is currently 5.87%.

About General Motors

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.