General Motors (NYSE:GM) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $55.30 and last traded at $54.89, with a volume of 1712844 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $53.70.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded General Motors from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $47.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on General Motors from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised their price target on General Motors from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on General Motors from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on General Motors from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.92.

General Motors Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.73, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.40.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.47. General Motors had a net margin of 6.06% and a return on equity of 16.30%. The firm had revenue of $48.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Motors will post 10.34 EPS for the current year.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. General Motors’s payout ratio is currently 5.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 506,824 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.33, for a total value of $27,028,923.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 694,548 shares in the company, valued at $37,040,244.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other General Motors news, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 506,824 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.33, for a total transaction of $27,028,923.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 694,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,040,244.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rory Harvey sold 2,302 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $489,942.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 531,228 shares of company stock worth $28,267,714 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Motors by 34.5% in the 2nd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 792 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of General Motors by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 9,184 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Motors by 56.1% in the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 626 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in General Motors by 3.5% in the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,804 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Institute for Wealth Management LLC. lifted its stake in General Motors by 0.6% in the second quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 36,624 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $1,702,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

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.