Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stake in General Motors Company (NYSE:GM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of General Motors Company (NYSE:GM - Free Report) TSE: GMM.U by 11.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,108,646 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock after selling 147,889 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of General Motors worth $52,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in General Motors in the fourth quarter worth $25,404,000. Cassia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in General Motors by 63.0% in the first quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 18,683 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $879,000 after buying an additional 7,221 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in General Motors in the first quarter worth $312,000. Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in General Motors by 18.0% in the first quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 144,000 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $6,772,000 after buying an additional 22,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarius Group LLC lifted its position in General Motors by 109.7% in the first quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 18,311 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $861,000 after buying an additional 9,579 shares during the last quarter. 92.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GM. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on General Motors from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup began coverage on General Motors in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on General Motors from $73.00 to $63.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on General Motors from $64.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on General Motors from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.35.

General Motors Stock Performance

NYSE:GM traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $53.09. 6,395,622 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,705,109. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. General Motors Company has a 1 year low of $38.96 and a 1 year high of $61.24.

General Motors (NYSE:GM - Get Free Report) TSE: GMM.U last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The auto manufacturer reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 14.30% and a net margin of 3.08%. The company's revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.62 EPS. Analysts anticipate that General Motors Company will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This is a boost from General Motors's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. General Motors's payout ratio is currently 8.65%.

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.