Argyle Capital Management LLC Increases Position in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Argyle Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,769 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,252 shares during the quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in General Motors were worth $2,971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in shares of General Motors by 972.6% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,103,036 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $94,300,000 after buying an additional 1,906,964 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of General Motors by 123.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,226,027 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $144,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,779,897 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in General Motors by 158.8% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,171,587 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $97,374,000 after acquiring an additional 1,332,450 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in General Motors by 35.8% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 4,399,549 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $234,364,000 after acquiring an additional 1,159,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in General Motors by 38.7% in the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 4,089,633 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $217,855,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140,569 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Motors

In other General Motors news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. purchased 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $50.66 per share, for a total transaction of $607,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,751.24. This trade represents a 700.12 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GM. HSBC cut General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $58.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Mizuho raised their price target on General Motors from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Hsbc Global Res lowered General Motors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of General Motors in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.71.

General Motors Price Performance

NYSE:GM opened at $47.68 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $50.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.31. The firm has a market cap of $47.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.75, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.13. General Motors has a one year low of $38.94 and a one year high of $61.24.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.17. General Motors had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 3.21%. Research analysts expect that General Motors will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

General Motors declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the auto manufacturer to repurchase up to 12.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.80%.

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.