Morgan Stanley Reiterates “Equal Weight” Rating for Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI)

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating restated by research analysts at Morgan Stanley in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $300.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $400.00. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 10.70% from the company’s current price.

GPI has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $470.00 to $435.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $338.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $400.22.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

GPI opened at $270.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 1.02. Group 1 Automotive has a 52-week low of $269.76 and a 52-week high of $488.39. The firm has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s fifty day moving average is $309.83 and its 200-day moving average is $327.65.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $9.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.60 by ($0.99). Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 15.66%. The company had revenue of $5.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.66 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $10.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive will post 39.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Group 1 Automotive

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 366,770.5% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 25,431,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,002,195,000 after purchasing an additional 25,424,532 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Group 1 Automotive by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 688,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,612,000 after buying an additional 10,100 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 505,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,659,000 after acquiring an additional 7,418 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Group 1 Automotive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $98,125,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Group 1 Automotive by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 151,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,616,000 after acquiring an additional 7,501 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

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.