JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) Stock Price

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) had its price objective increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $385.00 to $390.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $490.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore started coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $500.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $460.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $450.00.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of GPI stock traded up $5.48 on Thursday, hitting $355.64. The stock had a trading volume of 66,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 174,877. Group 1 Automotive has a 52-week low of $292.44 and a 52-week high of $488.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $329.20 and its 200-day moving average is $368.49.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.82 by ($0.16). Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 1.46%.The company had revenue of $5.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $10.17 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive will post 42.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a $0.55 dividend. This is a boost from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.40%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 54.9% in the 4th 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 881.8% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $55,000. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Group 1 Automotive

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.