GM stock hits new high, up 15% from IPO

General Motors Co. common stock closed at $37.06 today, up 20 cents, after a day of hitting new highs.

The stock price climbed throughout the day, peaking at $38 a share — 15 percent over its initial public offering price of $33 a share, as the market overall rallied on forecasts the economy would lift in the New Year, reported The Detroit News.

The increase continues GM's upward trajectory in the markets after Wall Street analysts last week gave the post-bankruptcy company high marks and a bullish outlook for 2011.

The closing price — its highest since returning to the public markets in November — was 12 percent over its IPO price.

GM ultimately sold off $23.1 billion of common and preferred stock in its IPO, making it the world's largest in history.

The stock price has started to rise within the last few days after weeks of staying under $36 a share.

Analysts at several major Wall Street banks offered a bullish outlook on GM's future last Tuesday, resuming coverage of the automaker and issuing their first reports since it went public. GM was dropped from the stock exchange when it filed for bankruptcy in 2009.

Some analysts anticipate GM's stock could fetch as high as $50 a share by the end of this year, putting it within dollars of the price needed for the U.S. Treasury to break even on its automaker bailout. Others estimated it could hit between $42 and $45 a share as GM's bankruptcy restructuring begins to pay off.