Head-To-Head Contrast: Group 1 Automotive (GPI) versus The Competition

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) is one of 285 public companies in the “Specialty Retail” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Group 1 Automotive to related businesses based on the strength of its risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Group 1 Automotive and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Group 1 Automotive	3	2	5	0	2.20
Group 1 Automotive Competitors	3685	15617	21637	592	2.46

Group 1 Automotive presently has a consensus target price of $330.10, suggesting a potential upside of 26.05%. As a group, “Specialty Retail” companies have a potential upside of 6.04%. Given Group 1 Automotive’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Group 1 Automotive is more favorable than its competitors.

Volatility & Risk

Group 1 Automotive has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Group 1 Automotive’s competitors have a beta of 1.91, meaning that their average share price is 91% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Group 1 Automotive pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Group 1 Automotive pays out 7.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Specialty Retail” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.0% and pay out 35.6% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Group 1 Automotive has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Group 1 Automotive and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Group 1 Automotive	1.75%	14.91%	4.19%
Group 1 Automotive Competitors	-3.62%	-13.77%	3.21%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

99.9% of Group 1 Automotive shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.9% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are held by institutional investors. 2.4% of Group 1 Automotive shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 20.5% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Group 1 Automotive and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Group 1 Automotive	$21.77 billion	$325.20 million	8.29
Group 1 Automotive Competitors	$7.06 billion	$386.51 million	31.27

Group 1 Automotive has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its competitors. Group 1 Automotive is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Group 1 Automotive competitors beat Group 1 Automotive on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

About Group 1 Automotive

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. is an international automotive retailer headquartered in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1997, the company operates franchised dealerships and collision centers in the United States and the United Kingdom. Its dealerships sell new and used vehicles from a range of manufacturers and provide related services, including vehicle maintenance and repair, parts sales, collision repair, and automotive financing and insurance products. Group 1’s business also includes manufacturer-authorized service operations and parts departments that support customers throughout vehicle ownership.