General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) today declared a Q4 2016 dividend of 38 cents per share on the company’s common stock – the same as Q3 in a booming auto market. The yield at current trading prices is~4.7%. The Q4 dividend is payable Thursday 22 December 2016 to all common stockholders of record as of Wednesday 7 December 2016.
GM reports Q3 results tomorrow. The stock, like that of Ford Motor continues to languish in the $37 range. Analysts are concerned about GM’s almost complete reliance on the sales of trucks and SUVs in North America to make money. The Brexit mess is also expected to hurt GM’s earnings following the collapse of the British pound – it’s now the ounce trading at $1.22 – and the Euro following the vote for the UK to exit the EU. (‘Bloody Hell,’ What Does Brexit do to Automakers?)
During Q2 (GM Q2 Record at $2.9 Billion with Net Income on $42.4B Revenue) General Motors said that second-quarter net income to common stockholders was $2.9 billion, up 157% compared to $1.1 billion in Q2 of 2015 based on the sales of 2.4 million vehicles. This was flat year-over-year. Through 30 June, the company sold 4.76 million vehicles globally. Earnings per share (EPS) diluted were $1.81, compared to $0.67 in the second quarter a year ago.
The GM results came from China and North America with a little help from GM Financial. Still, EPS diluted-adjusted was a record at $1.86, up 44% compared to $1.29 in the second quarter of 2015. The company reported records for earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) adjusted of $3.9 billion and EBIT-adjusted margin of 9.3%. This compare to EBIT-adjusted of $2.9 billion and EBIT-adjusted margin of 7.5% in the second quarter of 2015, which included $0.3 billion restructuring costs.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, publisher (kzhw@aol.com), is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
Zino is at home on test tracks, knows his way around U.S. Congressional hearing rooms, auto company headquarters, plant floors, as well as industry research and development labs where the real mobility work is done. He can quote from court decisions, refer to instrumented road tests, analyze financial results, and profile executive personalities and corporate cultures.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
