Morgan Stanley upgraded GM to "overweight" from "equal-weight"
The shares of General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) are 3.5% higher to trade at $34.18 at last check, after Morgan Stanley upgraded the auto giant to "overweight" from "sector weight." In addition to Morgan Stanley's upgrade, Jefferies hiked its price target on GM to $37 from $35.
General Motors stock is fresh off its third-straight monthly loss and fourth-straight weekly drop. The shares have reclaimed their year-to-date breakeven level today, but remain off by 9.8% year-over-year. Today's gains are testing resistance at GM's 30-day moving average.
Call traders are targeting the stock in response. So far, 8,941 bullish bets have been traded, volume that's double the average intraday volume and outpacing the 2,429 puts exchanged. The two most popular contracts are the weekly 5/5 34- and 35-strike calls, respectively.
GM options can be had for a relative bargain right now. This is per its Schaeffer’s Volatility Index (SVI) of 33%, which stands higher than just 7% of readings from the past year, suggesting options traders are pricing in low volatility expectations at the moment.