Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $77.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $67.00.
Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on GPI. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $57.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 13th. ValuEngine upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a strong sell rating to a sell rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $55.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, February 14th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Thursday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Tuesday, February 19th. They issued an overweight rating and a $77.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Group 1 Automotive currently has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $73.67.
Get Group 1 Automotive alerts:Shares of GPI stock opened at $61.93 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Group 1 Automotive has a 1 year low of $48.69 and a 1 year high of $81.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.80.
Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 5th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.03. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.11 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive will post 9.12 EPS for the current year.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 28th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.67%.
Group 1 Automotive declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 21st that permits the company to buyback $75.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 55,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,931,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Bank of Australia increased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Bank of Australia now owns 8,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $442,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 28,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $579,000 after purchasing an additional 917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IndexIQ Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. IndexIQ Advisors LLC now owns 34,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,258,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.86% of the company’s stock.
Group 1 Automotive Company Profile
Group 1 Automotive, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates in the automotive retail industry. It sells new and used cars, light trucks, and vehicle parts; arranges vehicle financing; sells service and insurance contracts; and provides automotive maintenance and repair services. The company has operations primarily in the metropolitan areas of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas in the United States; 28 towns in the United Kingdom; and in the metropolitan markets of Sao Paulo, Parana, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Santa Catarina, Brazil.
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