General Motors (NYSE:GM) Hits New 52-Week High - Here's Why

Key Points

• General Motors shares reached a new 52-week high of $61.95, with significant trading volume of over 2.2 million shares.
• Analysts have given General Motors a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy," with multiple firms recently raising their price targets for the stock.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, reflecting a 1.0% yield, and reported better-than-expected earnings for the last quarter.

General Motors Company (NYSE:GM - Get Free Report) TSE: GMM.U shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $61.95 and last traded at $61.61, with a volume of 2234299 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $60.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of General Motors in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of General Motors in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of General Motors from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. CLSA raised shares of General Motors to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on General Motors from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.53.

General Motors Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $56.22 and a 200-day moving average of $51.03. The firm has a market cap of $58.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.32.

General Motors (NYSE:GM - Get Free Report) TSE: GMM.U last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.01. General Motors had a net margin of 2.54% and a return on equity of 12.98%. The business had revenue of $47.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.06 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. General Motors has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.250-10.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Motors Company will post 11.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. General Motors's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 907,024 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.24, for a total transaction of $52,825,077.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 552,238 shares in the company, valued at $32,162,341.12. This trade represents a 62.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rory Harvey sold 23,977 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total value of $1,271,020.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $451,274.13. The trade was a 73.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,881,794 shares of company stock valued at $110,741,763 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Motors by 11.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,759,703 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $5,450,485,000 after acquiring an additional 11,418,367 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of General Motors by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,383,079 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $676,322,000 after purchasing an additional 316,196 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of General Motors by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,746,152 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $646,482,000 after purchasing an additional 594,217 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of General Motors by 146.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,470,258 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $629,196,000 after buying an additional 8,012,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP boosted its stake in General Motors by 81.1% during the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 13,018,874 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $640,659,000 after buying an additional 5,830,050 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.67% of the company's stock.

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.

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