Short Interest in General Motors (NYSE:GM) Increases By 6.6%

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 62,120,000 shares, a growth of 6.6% from the May 31st total of 58,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 14,100,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days. Currently, 5.5% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Motors news, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 626,316 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.46, for a total transaction of $27,219,693.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,198,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,093,242.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, President Mark L. Reuss sold 14,858 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.01, for a total transaction of $683,616.58. Following the transaction, the president now owns 162,049 shares in the company, valued at $7,455,874.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 626,316 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.46, for a total value of $27,219,693.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,198,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,093,242.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,152,621 shares of company stock valued at $51,818,111. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Motors

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its position in shares of General Motors by 27.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 37,306 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $1,733,000 after acquiring an additional 8,061 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in General Motors by 46.0% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,172 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $658,000 after purchasing an additional 4,467 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in General Motors by 9.7% during the second quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 59,967 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $2,786,000 after buying an additional 5,296 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in General Motors by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,460 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 752 shares during the period. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of General Motors by 588.0% in the 1st quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 126,153 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,721,000 after buying an additional 107,816 shares in the last quarter. 92.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GM shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of General Motors from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of General Motors from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of General Motors from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wedbush increased their price objective on General Motors from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on General Motors from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, General Motors currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.91.

General Motors Stock Performance

Shares of GM opened at $46.94 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.56 billion, a PE ratio of 5.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.97. General Motors has a one year low of $26.30 and a one year high of $49.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $45.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.53.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.60. General Motors had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 6.13%. The business had revenue of $43.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that General Motors will post 9.43 earnings per share for the current year.

General Motors declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the auto manufacturer to purchase up to 10.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. General Motors’s payout ratio is 5.87%.

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.