EP Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,965 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after selling 2,200 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Motors were worth $637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of General Motors in the fourth quarter worth about $592,321,000. Amundi increased its stake in shares of General Motors by 75.5% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,914,256 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $250,627,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113,973 shares in the last quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC increased its stake in shares of General Motors by 39.8% in the fourth quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 7,397,404 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $394,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104,528 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Motors in the fourth quarter worth about $108,366,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of General Motors by 54.4% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,352,523 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $178,593,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,936 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GM shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of General Motors in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $36.00 target price on shares of General Motors in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of General Motors from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of General Motors in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Motors currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.28.

General Motors Stock Performance

NYSE GM opened at $47.51 on Monday. General Motors has a 52-week low of $38.96 and a 52-week high of $61.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $45.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a fifty day moving average of $46.63 and a 200-day moving average of $50.06.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The auto manufacturer reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $44.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.64 billion. General Motors had a net margin of 3.21% and a return on equity of 15.29%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.62 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that General Motors will post 11.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This is a boost from General Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.65%.

General Motors declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase 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 reacquire up to 12.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About General Motors

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.