by ben klayman detroit general motors co chief executive mary barra has transformed the no 1 us automaker in her almost five years in charge but that is still not enough to satisfy investors ahead of thirdquarter results due on oct 31 gm shares are trading ab out 6 percent below the 33 per share price at which they launched in 2010 in a postbankruptcy initial public offering the detroit carmakers stock is down 22 percent since barra took over in january 2014 after hitting an alltime high of 4648 on oct 24 2017 the shares have declined 33 percent in the same period the standard poors 500 index has climbed 78 percent advt several shareholders contacted by reuters said gm could face a third major action by activist shareholders in less than four years if the share price does not improve ive been expecting it said john levin chairman of levin capital strategies it just seems a tempting morsel to somebody levins firm owns more than seven million gm shares barra has guided the company through the settlement of a federal criminal probe of a mishandled safety recall sold off moneylosing european operations and returned 25 billion to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks from 2012 through 2017 gm declined to comment for this story but the companys executives privately express frustration with the markets reluctance to see it as anything more than a manufacturer tied mainly to auto market sales cycles gms profitable north american truck and suv business and its moneymaking china operations are valued at just 14 billion excluding the value of gms stake in its 146 billion cruise automated vehicle business and its cash reserves from its 44 billion market capitalization the recent slump in the chinese market gms largest and plateauing us demand are ratcheting up the pressure advt gm is one of the few global automakers without a founding family or a government to serve as a bulwark against corporate raiders in 2015 a group led by investor harry wilson pressed gm to launch a 5 billion share buyback and commit to what is now an 18 billion ceiling on the level of cash the company would hold in 2017 gm fended off a call by hedge fund manager david einhorn to split its common stock shares into two classes einhorn whose firm still owned more than 21 million shares at the end of june declined to comment about gms stock price other investors said there were no clear alternatives to barras approach im clearly a frustrated investor said michael razewski a partner with douglas c lane associates which owned 257 million gm shares at the end of september gm is a name that i am still particularly bullish about despite years of disappointment some investors said they would welcome a spinoff or partial float of cruise or the creation of a tracking stock as a way of calling attention to the potential value of gms autonomous vehicle technology in the