Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) Stock Price

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) had its price target dropped by research analysts at Citigroup from $490.00 to $420.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s price target indicates a potential upside of 24.15% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on GPI. Evercore began coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $500.00 target price on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $470.00 to $455.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $370.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $460.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $442.63.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

NYSE GPI opened at $338.30 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $328.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $381.16. The stock has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.88. Group 1 Automotive has a fifty-two week low of $292.44 and a fifty-two week high of $488.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $8.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.36 by ($0.87). The company had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 17.39% and a net margin of 1.44%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $10.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive will post 41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Group 1 Automotive

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings 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 during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the fourth quarter valued at about $98,125,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter valued at about $75,315,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 968.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 84,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,931,000 after purchasing an additional 76,514 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $99,278,000 after purchasing an additional 58,641 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

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.