General Motors (NYSE:GM) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.15

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 29th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.15 per share by the auto manufacturer on Thursday, June 19th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. This is a 25.0% increase from General Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12.

General Motors has a payout ratio of 4.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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

Shares of General Motors stock opened at $46.25 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $46.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.69 billion, a PE ratio of 7.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.27. General Motors has a 12 month low of $38.96 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The auto manufacturer reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.15. General Motors had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 3.21%. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Motors will post 11.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on GM shares. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $51.00 price target (down from $64.00) on shares of General Motors in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Mizuho lowered their price target on General Motors from $63.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on General Motors from $73.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of General Motors in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on General Motors in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.83.

Insider Transactions at General Motors

In other news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. purchased 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $50.66 per share, with a total value of $607,920.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 13,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $694,751.24. This trade represents a 700.12 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in General Motors stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 456.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,717 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,755 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in General Motors were worth $2,062,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 92.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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

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.