General Motors (NYSE:GM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-two brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $62.89.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $73.00 target price on General Motors in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. Morgan Stanley raised General Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com lowered General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho raised their price target on General Motors from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Cowen initiated coverage on General Motors in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock.

General Motors Price Performance

GM stock opened at $48.34 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.42. The business’s 50-day moving average is $49.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.48. General Motors has a 1 year low of $38.96 and a 1 year high of $61.24.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.17. General Motors had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 3.21%. Analysts anticipate that General Motors will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Motors announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the auto manufacturer to repurchase up to 12.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.80%.

Insider Activity at General Motors

In other General Motors news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. purchased 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $50.66 per share, for a total transaction of $607,920.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 13,714 shares in the company, valued at $694,751.24. This represents a 700.12 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Motors

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GM. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in General Motors by 14.6% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 196,992 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $8,833,000 after purchasing an additional 25,117 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in General Motors by 0.6% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 36,240 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in General Motors by 8.0% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 170,693 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $7,654,000 after purchasing an additional 12,649 shares during the last quarter. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Motors during the third quarter worth $267,000. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC raised its holdings in General Motors by 18.1% during the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 9,631 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 1,478 shares during the last quarter. 92.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.