General Motors (NYSE:GM) Shares Down 2.9%

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) fell 2.9% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $44.90 and last traded at $45.13. 5,114,249 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 15,263,915 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.48.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GM shares. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of General Motors in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on General Motors from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Nomura Securities upgraded shares of General Motors to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of General Motors from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.92.

General Motors Stock Down 3.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $51.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.48, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.18. The business’s 50 day moving average is $46.02 and its 200-day moving average is $45.55.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.39. General Motors had a net margin of 6.22% and a return on equity of 15.77%. The firm had revenue of $47.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.91 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that General Motors will post 9.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.87%.

General Motors announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 11th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the auto manufacturer to purchase up to 10.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 2,302 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total transaction of $108,907.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $489,942.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 2,302 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total transaction of $108,907.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $489,942.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Paul A. Jacobson purchased 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were 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 owns 261,872 shares in the company, valued at $11,551,173.92. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors grew its stake in General Motors by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 48,767,573 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $2,211,609,000 after acquiring an additional 6,201,777 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in General Motors during the 1st quarter worth $159,750,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in General Motors by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 18,097,486 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $650,062,000 after purchasing an additional 3,247,050 shares in the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Motors by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 20,237,820 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $726,942,000 after buying an additional 2,905,689 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its holdings in General Motors by 1,213.0% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 2,203,771 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $79,159,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035,925 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.