General Motors (NYSE:GM) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Tuesday morning.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on General Motors from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of General Motors from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $56.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of General Motors from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of General Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, DZ Bank lowered General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $49.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Motors presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.17.

General Motors Price Performance

Shares of General Motors stock opened at $50.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.21. General Motors has a 52-week low of $34.93 and a 52-week high of $61.24. The company has a fifty day moving average of $53.14 and a 200-day moving average of $49.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.42.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.17. General Motors had a net margin of 6.06% and a return on equity of 16.30%. Equities research analysts expect that General Motors will post 10.34 EPS for the current year.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is 5.12%.

Insider Transactions at General Motors

In other General Motors news, EVP Craig B. Glidden sold 383,142 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,935,192.95. The trade was a 75.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Rory Harvey sold 8,919 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total transaction of $535,229.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $510,865.13. The trade was a 51.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 514,344 shares of company stock valued at $28,977,691 in the last ninety days. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Motors

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GM. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in General Motors by 972.6% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,103,036 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $94,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906,964 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Motors by 123.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,226,027 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $144,655,000 after buying an additional 1,779,897 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its stake in shares of General Motors by 581.4% in the 3rd quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,601,856 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $71,827,000 after buying an additional 1,366,768 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of General Motors by 158.8% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,171,587 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $97,374,000 after acquiring an additional 1,332,450 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd increased its position in General Motors by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 4,089,633 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $217,855,000 after acquiring an additional 1,140,569 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.