Stock Buyback Program Declared by Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) Board

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 12th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 9.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GPI shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $430.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stephens began coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $394.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.80.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of GPI stock opened at $417.64 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 1.00. Group 1 Automotive has a 52 week low of $255.73 and a 52 week high of $421.09. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $369.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $337.08.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted 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 company had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $12.07 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive will post 38.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.01%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total transaction of $29,546.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,340,928.59. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.70% 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.