Shares of General Motors stock were downgraded from a “conviction-buy” rating to a standard “buy” rating by analysts at Goldman Sachs Tuesday, according to Sleek Money. Wall Street analysts also downgraded several other automaker stocks as slow economic growth results in lower sales and dwindled sales projections.
Goldman added GM to their conviction list last summer and has since watched its stock fall 18 percentage points through to Monday. It’s been a rough year for the automaker, as it continues to deal with an onslaught of recalls, a government investigation and lawsuits from customers. Despite its struggles, some analysts still rate GM as a “strong-buy,” including ING Group.
Goldman analyst Patrick Archambault lowered his projected earnings on GM stock by 6% this year and by 8% for 2015 to line up with shrinking profit margins and a projected slow in vehicle production, Market Watch reports. Citigroup echoed Goldman’s rating on GM stock, giving it a “buy” rating, while Morgan Stanley put an “underweight” rating on the stock. Four analysts have given the stock a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one issued a strong buy rating.
GM last reported earnings on its stock in July, at $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter. This missed the estimate of $0.95 for the quarter, however its revenue of $39.60 billion also fell short of the $40.63 billion projection. Analysts project the automaker will post about $2.67 earnings per share on its stock for the current fiscal year.
Comments
That’s funny, I downgraded Goldman Sachs and hoped for their “Conviction” around about 2008 or 2009.
I owned GM stock on and off over the years and sold it a month ago with little recent profit. Unfortunately GM is a damaged brand and that is the reason I sold. I will still drive GM and proud to, but the ignition switch took 5 years of credibility away from Wall Street.