General Motors (NYSE:GM) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on General Motors from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on General Motors from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley downgraded General Motors from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and upped their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective 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, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on General Motors from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $56.38.

General Motors Price Performance

Shares of General Motors stock opened at $44.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $49.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $46.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.97. General Motors has a one year low of $26.30 and a one year high of $50.50.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.39. General Motors had a net margin of 6.22% and a return on equity of 15.77%. The company had revenue of $47.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.91 earnings per share. General Motors’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that General Motors will post 9.58 EPS for the current year.

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

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. General Motors’s payout ratio is 5.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Mark L. Reuss sold 14,858 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the president now owns 162,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,455,874.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, President Mark L. Reuss sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.44, for a total transaction of $6,516,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 176,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,684,840.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Mark L. Reuss sold 14,858 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.01, for a total value of $683,616.58. Following the sale, the president now owns 162,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,455,874.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,152,621 shares of company stock worth $51,818,111. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Motors

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital World Investors raised its stake in General Motors by 14.6% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC raised its stake 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 worth $726,942,000 after acquiring an additional 2,905,689 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised 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 worth $650,062,000 after acquiring an additional 3,247,050 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in General Motors in the 4th quarter worth $602,280,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in General Motors by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,731,249 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $493,226,000 after acquiring an additional 1,472,297 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.