Sanford C. Bernstein Lowers General Motors (NYSE:GM) to Market Perform

Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $53.00 price target on the auto manufacturer’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on GM. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on General Motors from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of General Motors from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Nomura cut shares of General Motors from a neutral rating to a reduce rating and set a $34.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on General Motors from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a hold rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of General Motors in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $54.92.

General Motors Stock Performance

Shares of General Motors stock opened at $45.72 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.42. General Motors has a 12 month low of $26.30 and a 12 month high of $50.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.60, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

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

General Motors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.05%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.87%.

General Motors announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the auto manufacturer to reacquire up to 10.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Motors

In related news, CFO Paul A. Jacobson purchased 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $44.11 per share, with a total value of $1,102,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 261,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,551,173.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Paul A. Jacobson acquired 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $44.11 per share, for a total transaction of $1,102,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 261,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,551,173.92. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Rory Harvey sold 12,795 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.02, for a total transaction of $627,210.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,513 shares in the company, valued at $417,307.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GM. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Motors by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 11,628 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $540,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in General Motors during the second quarter worth approximately $1,580,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Motors in the 2nd quarter valued at $13,924,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of General Motors during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in shares of General Motors by 469.6% during the 2nd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 570,775 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $26,517,000 after buying an additional 470,568 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.