Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) Stock Price Up 7.4% – Still a Buy?

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)’s share price shot up 7.4% on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $247.00 and last traded at $245.32. Approximately 19,191 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 199,461 shares. The stock had previously closed at $228.37.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GPI shares. Citigroup cut their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $387.00 to $357.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $275.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered Group 1 Automotive from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. DA Davidson set a $425.00 price objective on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $425.00 price objective on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Group 1 Automotive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $341.67.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $259.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $299.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of 10.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.92.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $9.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.60 by ($0.99). Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 15.66% and a net margin of 1.31%. The company had revenue of $5.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $10.82 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Conifer Management, L.L.C. acquired 133,472 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $243.58 per share, with a total value of $32,511,109.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,772,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $431,635,939. The trade was a 8.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders purchased 720,030 shares of company stock valued at $187,264,264. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Group 1 Automotive

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GPI. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $593,420,000. Conifer Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the second quarter worth $281,561,390. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 1.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 688,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,612,000 after buying an additional 10,100 shares during the last quarter. Lakewood Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the second quarter worth $72,098,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the second quarter valued at $57,174,000. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Group 1 Automotive

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.