General Motors (NYSE:GM) Short Interest Update

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 36,710,000 shares, an increase of 7.6% from the November 30th total of 34,130,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 12,700,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days. Currently, 3.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

General Motors Stock Performance

Shares of GM stock opened at $53.27 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $53.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.28. General Motors has a 52 week low of $34.32 and a 52 week high of $61.24. The company has a market cap of $58.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.68, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.42.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $48.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.67 billion. General Motors had a return on equity of 16.30% and a net margin of 6.06%. General Motors’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Motors will post 10.35 EPS for the current year.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 506,824 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.33, for a total value of $27,028,923.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 694,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,040,244.84. This trade represents a 42.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Craig B. Glidden sold 383,142 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.63, for a total value of $21,697,331.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 122,465 shares in the company, valued at $6,935,192.95. This trade represents a 75.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,030,475 shares of company stock valued at $56,509,286 in the last quarter. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Motors

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in General Motors in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Motors in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in General Motors in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in General Motors in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new position in General Motors in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on GM shares. Morgan Stanley raised General Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of General Motors in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded General Motors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on General Motors in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on General Motors from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.70.

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.