Brokerages Set Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) PT at $472.29

Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $472.2857.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America dropped their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $560.00 to $545.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $435.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $510.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $460.00 target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday.

Institutional Trading of Group 1 Automotive

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advent International L.P. grew its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Advent International L.P. now owns 235,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,833,000 after acquiring an additional 31,244 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 34.8% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 226,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,278,000 after purchasing an additional 58,641 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 buying an additional 33,542 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the third quarter valued at $75,315,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the 2nd quarter worth about $70,561,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Down 1.7%

Group 1 Automotive stock opened at $392.87 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a PE ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 1.06. Group 1 Automotive has a fifty-two week low of $355.91 and a fifty-two week high of $490.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $401.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $430.31.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $10.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $10.64 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $5.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.67 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.08% and a net margin of 1.67%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.90 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive will post 41 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 10.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.00%.

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.