General Motors (NYSE:GM) Stock Price Up 2.2%

Shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) shot up 2.2% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $46.87 and last traded at $46.84. Approximately 2,853,634 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 15,260,172 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.81.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded 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. Morgan Stanley cut General Motors from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of General Motors from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on General Motors from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Nomura Securities raised General Motors to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.92.

General Motors Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company’s 50-day moving average is $46.06 and its 200-day moving average is $45.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.68, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.43.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.91 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that General Motors will post 9.95 earnings per share for the current year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.87%.

General Motors announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 11th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the auto manufacturer to repurchase up to 10.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Paul A. Jacobson purchased 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was bought 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,551,173.92. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 2,302 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,356 shares in the company, valued at $489,942.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Paul A. Jacobson bought 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $44.11 per share, with a total value of $1,102,750.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 261,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,551,173.92. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GM. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Motors in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in General Motors in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Motors during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in General Motors by 56.1% in the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 626 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Motors in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. 92.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.