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

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $437.67.

Several brokerages have commented on GPI. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $394.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE GPI opened at $411.01 on Thursday. Group 1 Automotive has a 1 year low of $255.73 and a 1 year high of $440.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a PE ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $395.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $356.99.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.87 by $0.03. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 2.68% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The firm had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $12.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive will post 38.37 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.01%.

Group 1 Automotive announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 9.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total transaction of $29,546.79. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,340,928.59. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.68, for a total value of $2,560,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 98,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,013,899.56. This represents a 5.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Group 1 Automotive

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 51.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 82 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter worth $46,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the 2nd quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 47.5% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

About Group 1 Automotive

Group 1 Automotive, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates in the automotive retail industry in the United States and the United Kingdom. The company sells new and used cars, light trucks, and vehicle parts, as well as service and insurance contracts; arranges related vehicle financing; and offers automotive maintenance and repair services.