Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $426.8889.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GPI shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $470.00 to $435.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $390.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $338.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Group 1 Automotive

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GPI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 22.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 184,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,822,000 after acquiring an additional 33,542 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Group 1 Automotive by 2,053.8% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 51,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,403,000 after purchasing an additional 49,559 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,167,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 1,001.6% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 12,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,026,000 after buying an additional 11,619 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $98,125,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of GPI opened at $311.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 11.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.21. Group 1 Automotive has a one year low of $279.10 and a one year high of $488.39. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $312.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $334.87.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.82 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $5.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.46% and a return on equity of 16.63%. Group 1 Automotive’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $10.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive will post 41.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

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

Group 1 Automotive Company Profile

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.