Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) Price Target Lowered to $455.00 at Barclays

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) had its target price lowered by Barclays from $470.00 to $455.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Evercore initiated coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Benchmark raised Group 1 Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Group 1 Automotive from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $370.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Group 1 Automotive from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $452.00.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

NYSE:GPI opened at $323.90 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $329.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $381.81. Group 1 Automotive has a fifty-two week low of $292.44 and a fifty-two week high of $488.39. The firm has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a PE ratio of 12.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.88. 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 announced its quarterly 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 17.39% and a net margin of 1.44%.The business had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $10.02 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive will post 41 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This is a positive change from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is 8.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Group 1 Automotive

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 54.9% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 79 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 881.8% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 40.5% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.