JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) Price Target to $260.00

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) had its price target reduced by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $275.00 to $260.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 9.75% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $387.00 to $357.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Evercore set a $360.00 target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. DA Davidson set a $425.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $338.62.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of Group 1 Automotive stock traded down $4.53 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $236.91. The company had a trading volume of 137,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 197,972. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 1.02. Group 1 Automotive has a fifty-two week low of $234.05 and a fifty-two week high of $461.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $270.08 and its 200-day moving average is $304.25. The company has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Insider Activity at Group 1 Automotive

In other news, major shareholder Conifer Management, L.L.C. bought 71,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $242.03 per share, with a total value of $17,327,411.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,912,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,831,548.70. The trade was a 3.89% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders acquired 720,030 shares of company stock worth $187,264,264 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Group 1 Automotive

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

Group 1 Automotive Company Profile

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.