Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) in a report published on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $500.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on GPI. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $285.00 to $430.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $394.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Group 1 Automotive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $437.67.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of GPI stock opened at $427.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 1.35. Group 1 Automotive has a 1 year low of $255.73 and a 1 year high of $440.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $392.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $355.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.87 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 2.68%. Group 1 Automotive’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $12.07 EPS. Research analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive will post 38.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, November 12th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 9.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is currently 5.01%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total value of $29,546.79. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,259 shares in the company, valued at $2,340,928.59. This trade represents a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Group 1 Automotive by 51.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 82 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter worth $36,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter valued at $46,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the 2nd quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Group 1 Automotive by 47.5% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 270 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

About Group 1 Automotive

Group 1 Automotive, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates in the automotive retail industry in the United States and the United Kingdom. The company sells new and used cars, light trucks, and vehicle parts, as well as service and insurance contracts; arranges related vehicle financing; and offers automotive maintenance and repair services.