General Motors (NYSE:GM) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.12

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, January 27th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.12 per share by the auto manufacturer on Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th.

General Motors has a dividend payout ratio of 4.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect General Motors to earn $11.82 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 4.1%.

General Motors Price Performance

NYSE:GM opened at $45.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $45.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $50.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.47. General Motors has a 12 month low of $38.94 and a 12 month high of $61.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38.

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

General Motors announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the auto manufacturer to purchase up to 12.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. bought 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $50.66 per share, for a total transaction of $607,920.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 13,714 shares in the company, valued at $694,751.24. This represents a 700.12 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Motors

An institutional investor recently raised its position in General Motors stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 456.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,717 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 31,755 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in General Motors were worth $2,062,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 92.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GM has been the subject of several analyst reports. HSBC cut General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $58.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of General Motors from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of General Motors in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of General Motors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on General Motors from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.71.

About General Motors

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.