Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $351.75.

GPI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $435.00 to $365.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $380.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Evercore set a $360.00 target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPI opened at $249.81 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $271.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $304.64. Group 1 Automotive has a one year low of $234.05 and a one year high of $461.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.40, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.92.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $9.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.60 by ($0.99). Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 15.66% and a net margin of 1.31%.The company had revenue of $5.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $10.82 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive will post 38.96 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st were given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Group 1 Automotive news, major shareholder Conifer Management, L.L.C. bought 71,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $242.03 per share, for a total transaction of $17,327,411.76. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,912,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,831,548.70. This trade represents a 3.89% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 720,030 shares of company stock valued at $187,264,264. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Group 1 Automotive

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GPI. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the 2nd quarter worth $234,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 112.0% in the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 352.3% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 2,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $811,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 81.4% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 26,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,621,000 after buying an additional 11,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the second quarter worth about $42,000. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Group 1 Automotive

Group 1 Automotive, Inc is an international automotive retailer that operates franchised automobile dealerships. The company sells new and used vehicles from a range of manufacturers and provides related automotive services, including vehicle maintenance and repairs, parts and accessories, financing, and insurance products.

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Houston, Texas, Group 1 Automotive serves customers through dealership operations in the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as other international markets.