General Motors (NYSE:GM) Board Authorizes Stock Repurchase Program

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the auto manufacturer to purchase up to 12.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of General Motors in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of General Motors in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised General Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded General Motors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.71.

General Motors Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of GM stock opened at $48.39 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $50.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.33. General Motors has a 12-month low of $38.94 and a 12-month high of $61.24. The firm has a market cap of $48.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.40.

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

General Motors Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.80%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. bought 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $50.66 per share, with a total value of $607,920.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 13,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $694,751.24. The trade was a 700.12 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.