Sanford C. Bernstein Downgrades General Motors (NYSE:GM) to Market Perform

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) was downgraded by stock analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $53.00 price objective on the auto manufacturer’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s target price suggests a potential upside of 10.26% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on GM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on shares of General Motors in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on General Motors from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of General Motors in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Nomura downgraded General Motors from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $34.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on General Motors from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.17.

General Motors Price Performance

GM stock opened at $48.07 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $46.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.42. The stock has a market cap of $54.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.88, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.43. General Motors has a fifty-two week low of $26.30 and a fifty-two week high of $50.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $47.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.13 billion. General Motors had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 6.22%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Motors will post 9.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity at General Motors

In other news, CFO Paul A. Jacobson bought 25,000 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $44.11 per share, with a total value of $1,102,750.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 261,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,551,173.92. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other General Motors news, CFO Paul A. Jacobson purchased 25,000 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $44.11 per share, for a total transaction of $1,102,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 261,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,551,173.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Rory Harvey sold 12,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.02, for a total transaction of $627,210.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $417,307.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Motors

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its holdings in General Motors by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 11,628 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $540,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of General Motors in the second quarter worth $1,580,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Motors during the second quarter valued at $13,924,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of General Motors during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in General Motors by 469.6% in the second quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 570,775 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $26,517,000 after purchasing an additional 470,568 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.