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 morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $305.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on GPI. StockNews.com cut Group 1 Automotive from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Group 1 Automotive from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $255.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $331.67.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

NYSE:GPI opened at $265.68 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Group 1 Automotive has a 1 year low of $214.25 and a 1 year high of $310.08. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $271.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $273.64. The company has a market cap 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 (NYSE:GPI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $9.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.44 by ($0.94). The firm had revenue of $4.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.41 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 24.36% and a net margin of 3.34%. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $10.86 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive will post 38.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. This is a boost from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is presently 4.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Group 1 Automotive

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,628,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $595,163,000 after acquiring an additional 54,412 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Group 1 Automotive by 68.0% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Group 1 Automotive by 1.2% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Group 1 Automotive by 12.5% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Group 1 Automotive by 3,302.8% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

About Group 1 Automotive

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.