Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $449.58 and last traded at $453.31, with a volume of 95883 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $444.80.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GPI shares. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $430.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $425.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $436.83.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $423.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $377.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.87 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 2.68%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $12.07 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is 5.01%.

Group 1 Automotive announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 12th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 9.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Group 1 Automotive news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $426.68, for a total value of $2,560,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 98,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,013,899.56. This represents a 5.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total transaction of $29,546.79. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,340,928.59. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Group 1 Automotive

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 133.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 407,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,253,000 after buying an additional 232,846 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Group 1 Automotive by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 639,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,004,000 after acquiring an additional 115,143 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 596.3% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 76,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,259,000 after purchasing an additional 65,414 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 3,663.1% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 55,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,174,000 after purchasing an additional 53,811 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 244.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 56,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,573,000 after purchasing an additional 39,982 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

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.