General Motors (NYSE:GM) Hits New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $55.00 to $60.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. General Motors traded as high as $46.13 and last traded at $46.07, with a volume of 1920341 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $45.62.

Several other brokerages have also commented on GM. UBS Group upped their price target on General Motors from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on General Motors from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wolfe Research raised General Motors from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on General Motors in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on General Motors from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.65.

Insider Transactions at General Motors

In other news, EVP Julian G. Blissett sold 13,826 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.24, for a total value of $528,706.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 87,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,348,562.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Julian G. Blissett sold 13,826 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.24, for a total value of $528,706.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,348,562.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Christopher Hatto sold 15,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total value of $620,710.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $860,710.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 86,248 shares of company stock worth $3,614,078. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Motors

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of General Motors by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 475,061 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $17,064,000 after purchasing an additional 74,194 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of General Motors by 361.1% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 119,714 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $4,300,000 after purchasing an additional 93,754 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC increased its position in shares of General Motors by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 394,047 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $12,992,000 after purchasing an additional 51,336 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of General Motors by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 147,383 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $4,859,000 after purchasing an additional 14,002 shares during the period. Finally, AM Squared Ltd increased its position in shares of General Motors by 195.0% during the 4th quarter. AM Squared Ltd now owns 41,300 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,483,000 after purchasing an additional 27,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

General Motors Stock Up 0.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.60, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.27 and a 200-day moving average of $36.29.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.60. The business had revenue of $43.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.09 billion. General Motors had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 6.13%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Motors will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is 5.87%.

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.