Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GPI shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $425.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $436.83.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $424.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $379.50. The stock has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 1.36. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.87 by $0.03. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 2.68% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $12.07 earnings per share. Group 1 Automotive’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.01%.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, November 12th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 9.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is 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 that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 98,467 shares in the company, valued at $42,013,899.56. This represents a 5.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total transaction of $29,546.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,340,928.59. The trade was a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Group 1 Automotive

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GPI. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the second quarter worth $231,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 35.0% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 7.8% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 44,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,184,000 after acquiring an additional 3,206 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 10.8% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 1,042.9% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 8,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,378,000 after acquiring an additional 7,300 shares during the last quarter. 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.