General Motors (NYSE:GM) Short Interest Update

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 42,800,000 shares, an increase of 70.0% from the February 13th total of 25,180,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 11,560,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days. Approximately 4.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. acquired 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $50.66 per share, for a total transaction of $607,920.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 13,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $694,751.24. This represents a 700.12 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in shares of General Motors in the 4th quarter valued at $25,824,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of General Motors by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 14,451 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $770,000 after purchasing an additional 1,769 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of General Motors in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,198,000. LM Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Motors in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Motors in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $164,000. 92.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Motors Price Performance

GM stock traded up $1.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $48.34. The stock had a trading volume of 14,143,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,806,085. General Motors has a 1-year low of $38.96 and a 1-year high of $61.24. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $49.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $48.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.42.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.17. General Motors had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 3.21%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that General Motors will post 11.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.80%.

General Motors announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the auto manufacturer to repurchase up to 12.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $73.00 price objective on shares of General Motors in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of General Motors from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of General Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of General Motors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Motors has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.89.

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.