General Motors (GM) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 7th

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

General Motors has a payout ratio of 4.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Trading Down 4.2 %

NYSE:GM opened at $45.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.40. General Motors has a 12-month low of $38.94 and a 12-month high of $61.24.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.92 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts predict that General Motors will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

General Motors declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the auto manufacturer to repurchase up to 12.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GM shares. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of General Motors in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho increased their price target on General Motors from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of General Motors from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $56.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. bought 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $50.66 per share, for a total transaction of $607,920.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 13,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $694,751.24. The trade was a 700.12 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Motors

An institutional investor recently raised its position in General Motors stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 456.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,717 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,755 shares during the quarter. 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 currently owned by institutional investors.

General Motors Company Profile

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.