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

Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The stock traded as low as $297.31 and last traded at $301.68, with a volume of 14387 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $299.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on GPI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $370.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays set a $470.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore assumed coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, January 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $458.00.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $355.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $399.46.

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

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Group 1 Automotive

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 10.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 778.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 5,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,301,000 after buying an additional 4,670 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 8.4% in the 3rd 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, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 14.4% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 49,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,649,000 after acquiring an additional 6,233 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 (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.