Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) Shares Up 6.4% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Group 1 Automotive shares rose 6.4% on Wednesday, trading as high as $319.34 after closing at $299.18 the prior day, though volume was below average.
• Wall Street sentiment remains generally positive, with 7 Buy ratings and 3 Hold ratings, giving the stock a consensus Moderate Buy and an average target price of $426.89.
• The company recently reported quarterly earnings of $8.66 per share, missing estimates, while revenue also came in slightly below expectations and fell 1.8% year over year.

Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) were up 6.4% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $319.34 and last traded at $318.3640. Approximately 111,197 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 181,363 shares. The stock had previously closed at $299.18.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $338.00 to $330.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Barclays cut their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $470.00 to $435.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday, June 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $390.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $426.89.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.17, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.83. The business's fifty day moving average is $315.35 and its 200 day moving average is $337.79.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.82 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $5.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.46% and a return on equity of 16.63%. Group 1 Automotive's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $10.17 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41.93 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Group 1 Automotive's payout ratio is currently 8.40%.

Institutional Trading of Group 1 Automotive

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 366,770.5% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 25,431,464 shares of the company's stock worth $10,002,195,000 after buying an additional 25,424,532 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 1.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 688,416 shares of the company's stock worth $227,612,000 after acquiring an additional 10,100 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 505,108 shares of the company's stock worth $198,659,000 after acquiring an additional 7,418 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the fourth quarter valued at $98,125,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 184,732 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,822,000 after purchasing an additional 33,542 shares during the period. 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.

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