Analysts Set Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) Price Target at $400.22

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the ten ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $400.2222.

Several brokerages have recently commented on GPI. Evercore set a $360.00 price objective on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays dropped their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $470.00 to $435.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research lowered Group 1 Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Seaport Research Partners set a $420.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Group 1 Automotive

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPI. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Group 1 Automotive by 54.9% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 79 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 881.8% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 108 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 40.5% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

NYSE GPI opened at $258.57 on Tuesday. Group 1 Automotive has a 52-week low of $256.96 and a 52-week high of $488.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $303.19 and a 200-day moving average of $321.07. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.82. 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 (NYSE:GPI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $9.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company earned $10.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive will post 38.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.16%.

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.