Hancock Whitney Corp Buys New Stake in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Hancock Whitney Corp acquired a new position in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM - Free Report) TSE: GMM.U during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 105,988 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock, valued at approximately $5,646,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in General Motors during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in General Motors during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of General Motors in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Motors by 9,960.0% during the fourth quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 503 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in General Motors by 551.9% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 502 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.67% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on GM shares. Mizuho reduced their target price on General Motors from $63.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $51.00 price objective (down previously from $64.00) on shares of General Motors in a report on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of General Motors from $73.00 to $63.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of General Motors from $64.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays downgraded General Motors from an "overweight" rating to a "negative" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $54.83.

General Motors Price Performance

Shares of General Motors stock traded down $0.50 on Tuesday, hitting $46.74. The company had a trading volume of 14,120,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,890,805. General Motors has a 52 week low of $38.96 and a 52 week high of $61.24. The company has a market cap of $45.16 billion, a PE ratio of 7.59, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.33. 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 (NYSE:GM - Get Free Report) TSE: GMM.U last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The auto manufacturer reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $44.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.64 billion. General Motors had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 3.21%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.62 EPS. Research analysts expect that General Motors will post 11.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. This is a boost from General Motors's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. General Motors's payout ratio is presently 7.80%.

General Motors declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the auto manufacturer to reacquire up to 12.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at General Motors

In other General Motors news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. bought 12,000 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $50.66 per share, for a total transaction of $607,920.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.