* JPMorgan restarts coverage with "overweight," $44 target
* Barclays rates "overweight," $42 target
* Credit Suisse rates GM "outperform," $43 price target
* Shares rise as much as 2.5 pct to $35.48 (Adds Credit Suisse commentary, market open)
DETROIT, Dec 28 (Reuters) - General Motors Co shares rose 2.5 percent in early trading on Tuesday after banks resumed coverage of the automaker with high marks for its North American sales and position in emerging markets.
The positive ratings by Wall Street come just six weeks after GM returned to the New York Stock Exchange in the largest initial public offering in history -- about $23.1 billion. Its high was $35.99, reached on its first day of trading Nov. 18.
In early trading, GM shares ranged from $35.23, up 1.8 percent, to as high as $35.48, or up 2.5 percent.
JPMorgan started its coverage of GM with an "overweight" rating and set a price target by December 2011, at $44 per share.
Barclays Capital also rated the company "overweight" and set a price target of $42 per share.
Credit Suisse set a 12-month price target of $43 and called for GM shares to "outperform" in its resumption of rating the world's No. 2 automaker after Wall Street firms adhered to a quiet period after trading resumed.
Barclays said GM is "relatively attractive" for three reasons -- strong positions in emerging markets China and Brazil; strong earnings in North America due to price discipline; and even a conservative estimate of its financial position suggest $42 per share price target.
JPMorgan sees the "potential for significant additional appreciations beyond year-end 2011."
Advantages for GM include "high exposure to the fastest growing auto regions," "a sound balance sheet that will delever significantly further by 2013," and "considerable medium term product opportunity."
The U.S. government bailed out GM for $50 billion after the automaker's 2009 bankruptcy. The Obama administration has said it is on track to recoup the full investment in GM and that it is making progress toward shedding government's stake by mid-to-late 2012.
Credit Suisse noted that Detroit-based GM was still trading at a deep discount to rival Ford Motor Co, based in nearby Dearborn, Michigan.
Credit Suisse said GM, at its $34.60 close on Monday, was trading at 3.9 times EDITDAP (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and pension income), versus Ford's trading at 5.5 times 2011 EDITDAP.
Ford closed Monday at $16.87 per share, and in early trading on Tuesday slid 0.5 percent to $16.77. (Reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by Derek Caney and Maureen Bavdek)