General Motors (NYSE:GM) Short Interest Update

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 34,720,000 shares, a growth of 17.1% from the October 31st total of 29,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 13,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 3.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

General Motors Stock Performance

General Motors stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $55.59. 8,064,728 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,067,318. General Motors has a 12 month low of $31.52 and a 12 month high of $61.24. The firm has a market cap of $61.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.93, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $51.56 and a 200 day moving average of $48.08.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $48.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.28 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Motors will post 10.35 earnings per share for the current year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 506,824 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 694,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,040,244.84. This trade represents a 42.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rory Harvey sold 9,307 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.01, for a total transaction of $502,671.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $459,787.13. This trade represents a 52.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,030,475 shares of company stock valued at $56,509,286 over the last 90 days. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Motors

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in General Motors by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 11,382 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 1,559 shares during the period. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its position in General Motors by 12.1% in the third quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 1,629,573 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $73,070,000 after purchasing an additional 175,860 shares in the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. lifted its stake in General Motors by 121.5% during the third quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 47,169 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $2,115,000 after purchasing an additional 25,869 shares during the period. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in General Motors by 115.1% during the third quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC now owns 178,443 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $8,001,000 after purchasing an additional 95,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Olstein Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of General Motors by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 162,000 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $7,264,000 after buying an additional 21,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GM. DZ Bank downgraded General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $49.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on General Motors from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of General Motors from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of General Motors from $53.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on shares of General Motors from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Motors presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.92.

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.