General Motors (NYSE:GM) Short Interest Update

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) was the target 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 stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 13,290,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

General Motors Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of General Motors stock traded down $1.38 on Tuesday, hitting $53.66. 12,950,742 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,888,729. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. General Motors has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $61.24. The company has a market cap of $59.00 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $48.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.67 billion. General Motors had a net margin of 6.06% and a return on equity of 16.30%. General Motors’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that General Motors will post 10.35 EPS for the current year.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at General Motors

In related news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 9,307 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.01, for a total value of $502,671.07. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $459,787.13. This trade represents a 52.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 506,824 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.33, for a total value of $27,028,923.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 694,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,040,244.84. This represents a 42.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,030,475 shares of company stock worth $56,509,286. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Motors

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GM. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of General Motors by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,620,533 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $1,055,395,000 after acquiring an additional 106,878 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in General Motors by 6.1% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised 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 grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $600,291,000 after buying an additional 1,091,137 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Motors by 3.9% in 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 buying an additional 421,989 shares during the period. 92.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GM shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on General Motors from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays raised their price target on General Motors from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DZ Bank lowered General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $49.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on shares of General Motors in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered General Motors from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Motors currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.