DETROIT — General Motors Co. said Wednesday it will not only earn a bigger profit this year than expected, but it also will boost a stock repurchase program from $5 billion to $9 billion and raise its quarterly dividend from 36 to 38 cents a share.
The automaker’s top executives presented their 2016 outlook at the Deutsche Bank auto industry conference in Detroit, saying GM expects to earn between $5.25 and $5.75 a share this year, up from previous guidance of between $5.00 and $5.50 a share.
Expanding the share repurchase program by $4 billion comes about 10 months after the first $5 billion was initiated in response to pressure from a group of four hedge funds that argued that GM’s shares were undervalued. Since the start of that program GM has bought back $3.5 billion of its shares.