StockNews.com Downgrades General Motors (NYSE:GM) to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on GM. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of General Motors from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of General Motors from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of General Motors from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America restated a buy rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of General Motors in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of General Motors from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $56.38.

General Motors Stock Performance

GM opened at $44.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $46.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.01. General Motors has a 1 year low of $26.30 and a 1 year high of $50.50. The stock has a market cap of $49.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.43.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $47.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.13 billion. General Motors had a net margin of 6.22% and a return on equity of 15.77%. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.91 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Motors will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

General Motors announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

General Motors Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at General Motors

In other General Motors news, President Mark L. Reuss sold 14,858 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.01, for a total transaction of $683,616.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 162,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,455,874.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other General Motors news, President Mark L. Reuss sold 14,858 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.01, for a total transaction of $683,616.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 162,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,455,874.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 626,316 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.46, for a total transaction of $27,219,693.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,198,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,093,242.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,152,621 shares of company stock valued at $51,818,111. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its position in shares of General Motors by 1,213.0% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 2,203,771 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $79,159,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035,925 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of General Motors by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 475,061 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $17,064,000 after purchasing an additional 74,194 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of General Motors by 59.3% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 86,888 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $3,121,000 after purchasing an additional 32,331 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of General Motors by 317.6% during the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 67,807 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $2,436,000 after purchasing an additional 51,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of General Motors by 361.1% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 119,714 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $4,300,000 after purchasing an additional 93,754 shares in 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.