General Motors (NYSE:GM) Sets New 1-Year Low - Should You Sell?

General Motors (NYSE:GM - Get Free Report) TSE: GMM.U's stock price reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $44.72 and last traded at $45.28, with a volume of 17756334 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $46.94.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on General Motors from $73.00 to $63.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of General Motors from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $50.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of General Motors from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group lowered their price target on General Motors from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on General Motors in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.94.

General Motors Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.23. The stock has a market cap of $43.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.36, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.27.

General Motors (NYSE:GM - Get Free Report) TSE: GMM.U last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The auto manufacturer reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $44.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.64 billion. General Motors had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 3.21%. The business's revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.62 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Motors will post 11.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This is an increase from General Motors's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. General Motors's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.80%.

General Motors declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the auto manufacturer to buy up to 12.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Motors

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Trust Point Inc. grew its stake in General Motors by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 7,241 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Holistic Planning LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Motors by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Holistic Planning LLC now owns 5,759 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its position in shares of General Motors by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 1,379 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Motors by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 1,413 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in General Motors by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 53,619 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $2,856,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. 92.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.