Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.55 Per Share

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.55 per share on Monday, March 16th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This is a 10.0% increase from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50.

Group 1 Automotive has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.3%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 2 years. Group 1 Automotive has a payout ratio of 4.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Group 1 Automotive to earn $44.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 4.5%.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of GPI opened at $337.18 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.48 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.25. Group 1 Automotive has a 1-year low of $331.59 and a 1-year high of $490.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $391.34 and a 200 day moving average of $416.98.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $8.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.36 by ($0.87). Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 1.44%.The company had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $10.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive will post 41 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, November 11th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 10.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.