General Motors (NYSE:GM) Short Interest Update

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 34,720,000 shares, an increase of 17.1% from the October 31st total of 29,650,000 shares. Currently, 3.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 13,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Insider Transactions at General Motors

In other General Motors news, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 506,824 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.33, for a total transaction of $27,028,923.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 694,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,040,244.84. This represents a 42.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Rory Harvey sold 8,919 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total value of $535,229.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $510,865.13. This represents a 51.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,030,475 shares of company stock worth $56,509,286. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Motors

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in General Motors by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,620,533 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $1,055,395,000 after purchasing an additional 106,878 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in General Motors by 6.1% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 17,278,448 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $774,766,000 after acquiring an additional 989,750 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in General Motors by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,951,561 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $601,730,000 after acquiring an additional 135,717 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in General Motors by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,922,021 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $600,291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Motors by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,113,063 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $498,310,000 after purchasing an additional 421,989 shares during the last quarter. 92.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Motors Stock Performance

Shares of General Motors stock traded down $0.88 on Tuesday, hitting $54.16. 6,012,390 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,858,223. General Motors has a 1 year low of $32.60 and a 1 year high of $61.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.55 billion, a PE ratio of 5.87, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.42.

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

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. General Motors’s payout ratio is currently 5.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GM has been the subject of several research reports. Nomura Securities upgraded shares of General Motors to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley cut General Motors from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on General Motors from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DZ Bank downgraded General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $49.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on General Motors from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Motors currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.92.

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.