Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $441.25.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GPI. Barclays upped their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $385.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, June 12th. UBS Group began coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $338.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 54.9% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 79 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp raised its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 881.8% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in Group 1 Automotive in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 40.5% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Group 1 Automotive in the 3rd quarter valued at $55,000. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:GPI opened at $312.85 on Monday. Group 1 Automotive has a 12-month low of $292.44 and a 12-month high of $488.39. The company has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.95, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50 day moving average of $329.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $350.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.82 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $5.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 1.46%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $10.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive will post 42.37 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.40%.

About Group 1 Automotive

Group 1 Automotive, Inc (NYSE: GPI) is an international automotive retailer headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company operates an extensive network of franchised dealerships, offering new and pre-owned vehicles from leading domestic and import manufacturers. In addition to vehicle sales, Group 1 Automotive provides a full complement of aftersales services, including finance and insurance products, parts distribution, collision repair centers and vehicle maintenance.

Founded in 1997, Group 1 Automotive has grown through both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to establish a presence across the United States, the United Kingdom and Brazil.