Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) shares hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $306.73 and last traded at $308.37, with a volume of 33433 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $318.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Evercore initiated coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $500.00 target price for the company. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $460.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Barclays set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Group 1 Automotive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $458.00.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Down 2.4%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $364.51 and a 200-day moving average of $404.99. The company has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.44, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $8.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.36 by ($0.87). The business had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.71 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 17.39% and a net margin of 1.44%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $10.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is 8.80%.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, November 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 10.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Group 1 Automotive

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 25,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,209,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 10.6% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 131,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,350,000 after purchasing an additional 12,566 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 778.3% during the second quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 5,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,301,000 after purchasing an additional 4,670 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 8.4% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,226,000 after buying an additional 3,766 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 40.1% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,449 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,253,000 after buying an additional 2,132 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Group 1 Automotive Company Profile

Group 1 Automotive, Inc (NYSE: GPI) is an international automotive retailer headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company operates an extensive network of franchised dealerships, offering new and pre-owned vehicles from leading domestic and import manufacturers. In addition to vehicle sales, Group 1 Automotive provides a full complement of aftersales services, including finance and insurance products, parts distribution, collision repair centers and vehicle maintenance.

Founded in 1997, Group 1 Automotive has grown through both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to establish a presence across the United States, the United Kingdom and Brazil.