Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) Upgraded at Guggenheim

Guggenheim upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $305.00 price target on the stock.

GPI has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Group 1 Automotive from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and raised their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Stephens restated an overweight rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Group 1 Automotive from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $331.67.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Group 1 Automotive stock opened at $265.68 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.23, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.42. Group 1 Automotive has a fifty-two week low of $214.25 and a fifty-two week high of $310.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $271.99 and a 200 day moving average of $273.64.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $9.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $10.44 by ($0.94). The business had revenue of $4.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.41 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 24.36% and a net margin of 3.34%. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.86 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive will post 38.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This is a positive change from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.41%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 2.1% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,628,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $595,163,000 after purchasing an additional 54,412 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 68.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 621,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,299,000 after purchasing an additional 251,565 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 1.2% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 596,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,087,000 after purchasing an additional 7,293 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 12.5% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 574,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,390,000 after purchasing an additional 63,726 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 3,302.8% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 493,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,752,000 after purchasing an additional 478,571 shares during the period. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Group 1 Automotive Company Profile

Group 1 Automotive, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates in the automotive retail industry in the United States and the United Kingdom. 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.