Business institutions are faced with numerous institutional issues and General Motors Company has had its share of institutional issues. This essay will cover General Motors issues regarding the company shares and their related information. The essay will be based on the following questions to the HR:-
- Do general motors trade in shares?
- When general motors public offering took place?
- Where has General Motors listed its shares?
- Does the company pay dividends to share holders?
- Who is the transfer agent for general motors?
- Does General Motors issue certificates to share holders?
- What is General Motors company ticker symbol?
- Is it possible to access General Motors Company financial documents?
In order to acquire answers to these questions, an email was sent to the Human resource manager and his response was useful. With the response together with other sources a comprehensive report was obtained. Through the HR manager, the research established that the company’s public offering took place on November 17, 2010 and each share was offered at $33.00. After this, trading in the Toronto Stock and New York Stock exchange commenced on November 18, 2010. In addition, the company introduced its series B preferred Stock within the New York Stock exchange (Tallant, 2011).
In regard to paying of dividends, GM motor company does not pay dividends on securities. The research also revealed that it was only the company’s board of directors who were mandated with the task of declaring dividends within the company. Apparently, the company does not pay dividends for common stock. Holders of series B stock are paid at the rate of 4.75% per year within the liquidation preference of $50 per share. All dividends in this category are paid in cash or in shares within the common stock but with some restrictions. Additionally, series B stock are paid in quarterly basis on the first day of March, June, September and December (Holstein, 2010).
The other question was meant to establish the GM’s stock transfer agent. According to Tallant (2011), Computershare Trust Company is the company that is mandated with this task, and it maintains all records of General Motor’s stock ownership. If any share holder wishes to update his account with tasks like updating the postal addresses and obtaining stock information, he can contact Computershare through a toll free telephone line. In addition, all stock holders residing outside United States, Puerto Rico or Canada can also contact Computershare via a reserved toll free telephone line. To enhance customer experience, Computershare has phone representatives who assist customers every weekday between 9.00 am and 6 p.m ET. In addition, all registered stock holders with GM have the ability to access their accounts through Computershare website (Holstein, 2010).
In an effort to establish whether shareholders can easily acquire their stock certificate, the HR manager clarified that General Motors never issue certificates, rather it uses a registered stock ownership method which in known as book entry. GM also uses a system known as Direct Registration Profile. With this system in place, security is enhanced and the risk of loosing certificates is eliminated. Additionally, transfer and sale of stocks becomes easy when this system is used (Tallant, 2011).
The other question was regarding the general motors company ticker symbol. According to Tallant (2010), the company’s ticker symbol is GM in the New York Stock exchange whereas in Toronto Stock exchange it trades under the ticker symbol GMM. On the other hand the company’s series B convertible junior shares trade in New York Stock Exchange using GM PR B as the ticker symbol (Holstein, 2010).
Lastly, the HR manager clarified that it was easy to acquire General Motors financial documents. In the response, the HR Manager confirmed that General Motors as a company has the obligation of releasing periodic reports electronically. Holstein (2010), also illustrates that these electronic documents are disclosed electronically to the public through the website www.sec.gov as well as in General Motors investor relations desk.
References
Sloane, A. & Witney, F. (2010). Labor relations (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Holstein, W. (2010). Why GM matters inside the race to transform an American icon. New York: Walker.
Tallant, J. (2011). General Motors AC Delco Dealership Parts Manager Survey Design. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH.
