General Motors (NYSE:GM) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) in a research note released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $55.00 target price on the auto manufacturer’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on General Motors from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday. TheStreet upgraded General Motors from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on General Motors from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on General Motors from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on General Motors from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $54.38.

General Motors Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:GM opened at $45.62 on Thursday. General Motors has a twelve month low of $26.30 and a twelve month high of $46.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $42.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.19. The company has a market cap of $52.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.51.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.60. The company had revenue of $43.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.09 billion. General Motors had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 6.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that General Motors will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Motors news, EVP Julian G. Blissett sold 13,826 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.24, for a total value of $528,706.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,567 shares in the company, valued at $3,348,562.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Gerald Johnson sold 15,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total transaction of $608,055.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 98,628 shares in the company, valued at $3,948,078.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Julian G. Blissett sold 13,826 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.24, for a total value of $528,706.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,348,562.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 86,248 shares of company stock worth $3,614,078. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of General Motors by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 475,061 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $17,064,000 after buying an additional 74,194 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of General Motors by 361.1% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 119,714 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $4,300,000 after purchasing an additional 93,754 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its holdings in General Motors by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 394,047 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $12,992,000 after acquiring an additional 51,336 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in General Motors by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 147,383 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $4,859,000 after acquiring an additional 14,002 shares during the period. Finally, AM Squared Ltd boosted its holdings in General Motors by 195.0% during the 4th quarter. AM Squared Ltd now owns 41,300 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,483,000 after acquiring an additional 27,300 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

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.