General Motors Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:GM)

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 57,363 call options on the company. This is an increase of 17% compared to the typical daily volume of 48,922 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of General Motors in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded General Motors from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC cut General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of General Motors in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.71.

General Motors Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of NYSE:GM opened at $48.39 on Thursday. General Motors has a 12-month low of $38.94 and a 12-month high of $61.24. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The company has a market capitalization of $48.14 billion, a PE ratio of 7.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.40.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.17. General Motors had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 3.21%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that General Motors will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Motors declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the auto manufacturer to buy up to 12.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. General Motors’s payout ratio is 7.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. purchased 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $50.66 per share, with a total value of $607,920.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 13,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $694,751.24. This trade represents a 700.12 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Motors

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Motors in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of General Motors in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Motors in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in General Motors in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in General Motors in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.