Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) Given New $315.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) had its price objective trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $325.00 to $315.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Stephens reissued an overweight rating and issued a $330.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Guggenheim raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Group 1 Automotive from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $331.67.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of GPI opened at $265.68 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $271.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $273.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 1.11. Group 1 Automotive has a 52 week low of $214.25 and a 52 week high of $310.08.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $9.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $10.44 by ($0.94). Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 24.36% and a net margin of 3.34%. The business had revenue of $4.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.41 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $10.86 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive will post 38.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This is a boost from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is 4.41%.

Institutional Trading of Group 1 Automotive

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GPI. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 3,302.8% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 493,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,752,000 after acquiring an additional 478,571 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 68.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 621,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,299,000 after acquiring an additional 251,565 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 164.2% in the first quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 251,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,842,000 after acquiring an additional 156,029 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Group 1 Automotive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,923,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 37.2% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 333,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,479,000 after acquiring an additional 90,426 shares during the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.