Royal Bank of Canada Boosts General Motors (NYSE:GM) Price Target to $56.00

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) had its price target upped by Royal Bank of Canada from $54.00 to $56.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the auto manufacturer’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on GM. Wolfe Research raised shares of General Motors from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of General Motors from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of General Motors in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. They set a neutral rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of General Motors from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of General Motors from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $54.38.

General Motors Stock Performance

Shares of General Motors stock opened at $45.62 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $52.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.19. General Motors has a fifty-two week low of $26.30 and a fifty-two week high of $46.04.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.60. The business had revenue of $43.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.09 billion. General Motors had a net margin of 6.13% and a return on equity of 14.40%. General Motors’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.21 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that General Motors will post 9.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at General Motors

In other news, EVP Julian G. Blissett sold 13,826 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.24, for a total transaction of $528,706.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,348,562.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Gerald Johnson sold 27,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.26, for a total value of $1,227,541.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,236,361.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Julian G. Blissett sold 13,826 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.24, for a total transaction of $528,706.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,348,562.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 86,248 shares of company stock valued at $3,614,078 over the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Motors

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in General Motors in the 1st quarter worth $271,000. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Motors by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 7,516 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $341,000 after buying an additional 774 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Motors by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,853 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of General Motors by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,815,844 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $581,199,000 after buying an additional 438,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of General Motors by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 250,515 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $11,361,000 after buying an additional 3,186 shares during the last quarter. 92.67% of the stock is 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.