Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) Receives $426.89 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $426.8889.

GPI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $470.00 to $435.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday, June 12th. DA Davidson set a $425.00 target price on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Evercore set a $440.00 target price on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GPI opened at $325.94 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $313.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $336.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.83. Group 1 Automotive has a 1 year low of $279.10 and a 1 year high of $488.39.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.82 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $5.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.46% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $10.17 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive will post 41.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.40%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Group 1 Automotive

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 28.4% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 30,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,960,000 after acquiring an additional 6,814 shares during the last quarter. Evanson Financial LLC bought a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the 2nd quarter valued at $335,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 186.5% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 63.7% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 370 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council lifted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 25,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,363,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.