Balanced Rock Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Position in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Balanced Rock Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,441 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after selling 256 shares during the period. Balanced Rock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Motors were worth $578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors increased its stake in General Motors by 14.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 48,767,573 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,211,609,000 after purchasing an additional 6,201,777 shares during the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC grew its position in shares of General Motors by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 20,237,820 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $726,942,000 after buying an additional 2,905,689 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in General Motors by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 18,097,486 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $650,062,000 after acquiring an additional 3,247,050 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in General Motors in the fourth quarter valued at $602,280,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in General Motors by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,731,249 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $493,226,000 after acquiring an additional 1,472,297 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Mark L. Reuss sold 14,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.01, for a total value of $683,616.58. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 162,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,455,874.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other General Motors news, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 326,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.33, for a total transaction of $15,770,320.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 898,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,431,657.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Mark L. Reuss sold 14,858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.01, for a total transaction of $683,616.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 162,049 shares in the company, valued at $7,455,874.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 391,402 shares of company stock worth $18,818,536 over the last 90 days. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GM. UBS Group boosted their target price on General Motors from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of General Motors in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Nomura Securities upgraded shares of General Motors to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of General Motors from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of General Motors from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.17.

General Motors Price Performance

Shares of GM traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $49.78. The company had a trading volume of 15,736,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,498,768. The company has a market capitalization of $56.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.09, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.43. General Motors has a 12-month low of $26.30 and a 12-month high of $50.50. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $47.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.13 billion. General Motors had a net margin of 6.22% and a return on equity of 15.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.91 EPS. Research analysts expect that General Motors will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

General Motors declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 11th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the auto manufacturer to reacquire up to 10.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.87%.

General Motors 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.