Short Interest in General Motors (NYSE:GM) Drops By 6.7%

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 58,300,000 shares, a decline of 6.7% from the May 15th total of 62,470,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 14,950,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days. Approximately 5.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of General Motors from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on General Motors from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on General Motors from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of General Motors from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of General Motors in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.65.

General Motors Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE GM traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $47.44. The stock had a trading volume of 9,328,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,039,617. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $54.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.46. General Motors has a fifty-two week low of $26.30 and a fifty-two week high of $49.35.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last posted 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. General Motors had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 6.13%. The business had revenue of $43.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.21 EPS. General Motors’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that General Motors will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.87%.

General Motors declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the auto manufacturer to buy up to 10.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at General Motors

In related news, CAO Christopher Hatto sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.01, for a total value of $252,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $651,449.07. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other General Motors news, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 326,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.33, for a total transaction of $15,770,320.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 898,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,431,657.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Christopher Hatto sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.01, for a total value of $252,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $651,449.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,194,343 shares of company stock valued at $53,674,717. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Motors

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GM. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in General Motors by 13.2% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,460 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in General Motors by 588.0% in the 1st quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 126,153 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,721,000 after acquiring an additional 107,816 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in General Motors by 233.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 177,567 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $8,053,000 after buying an additional 124,276 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of General Motors by 98.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 330,611 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $14,993,000 after purchasing an additional 164,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invst LLC bought a new position in shares of General Motors during the first quarter worth approximately $910,000. 92.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.