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

Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $437.67.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $430.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 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 report on Friday, November 8th.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:GPI opened at $421.09 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $417.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $371.14. 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 fifty-two week low of $255.73 and a fifty-two week high of $440.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 1.36.

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

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.01%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.68, for a total transaction of $2,560,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 98,467 shares in the company, valued at $42,013,899.56. This trade represents a 5.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,340,928.59. The trade was a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Group 1 Automotive

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 22.0% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 639,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,004,000 after purchasing an additional 115,143 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 2.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 541,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,518,000 after acquiring an additional 10,969 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 133.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 407,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,253,000 after purchasing an additional 232,846 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 305,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,080,000 after acquiring an additional 1,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Group 1 Automotive by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 156,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,701,000 after buying an additional 3,507 shares during the period. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.