Group 1 Automotive, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates in the automotive retail industry. The company sells new and used cars, light trucks, and vehicle parts, as well as service and insurance contracts; arranges related vehicle financing; and offers automotive maintenance and repair services. It operates primarily in 17 states in the United States; and 35 towns in the United Kingdom. As of July 11, 2022, the company owned and operated 204 automotive dealerships, 273 franchises, and 47 collision centers that offer 35 brands of automobiles. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is based in Houston, Texas.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GPI shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $160.00 to $142.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Group 1 Automotive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 1st.
Group 1 Automotive Stock Up 0.9 %
GPI opened at $185.07 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of 4.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Group 1 Automotive has a 52 week low of $145.72 and a 52 week high of $212.23. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $174.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.11.
Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI - Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 27th. The company reported $12.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.56 by $1.44. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.02 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 37.65% and a net margin of 4.35%. The firm's revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $10.31 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive will post 43.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 1st were paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 31st. This is a boost from Group 1 Automotive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Group 1 Automotive's dividend payout ratio is currently 3.90%.
Insider Activity
In other news, VP Michael David Jones sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.49, for a total transaction of $181,490.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,972 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,354,288.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.