General Motors (NYSE:GM) Shares Acquired by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. boosted its holdings in General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 27.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 94,497 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,567 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in General Motors were worth $5,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of General Motors by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,164 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $488,000 after buying an additional 1,510 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new position in shares of General Motors in the fourth quarter valued at $474,000. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of General Motors in the third quarter valued at $1,551,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of General Motors by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 463,848 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $25,178,000 after buying an additional 39,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantra Family Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Motors in the fourth quarter valued at $1,044,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. HSBC cut General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res lowered General Motors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of General Motors in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of General Motors in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised General Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.22.

General Motors Stock Performance

General Motors stock opened at $47.39 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $49.70 and its 200-day moving average is $50.47. The company has a market cap of $47.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.98. General Motors has a 12 month low of $38.94 and a 12 month high of $61.24.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.92 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that General Motors will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. General Motors’s payout ratio is currently 7.80%.

General Motors announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the auto manufacturer to purchase up to 12.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at General Motors

In related news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. bought 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $50.66 per share, for a total transaction of $607,920.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 13,714 shares in the company, valued at $694,751.24. This represents a 700.12 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

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.