Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $130.25.
Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GPI shares. Seaport Global Securities started coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Monday, October 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $95.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 7th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $185.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 17th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Group 1 Automotive from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th.
Shares of NYSE GPI traded down $6.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $137.62. 239,291 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 234,118. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.69. The stock has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 2.13. Group 1 Automotive has a 12-month low of $26.25 and a 12-month high of $162.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.
Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $6.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $6.56 by $0.41. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 2.13%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.02 EPS. Group 1 Automotive’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive will post 18.38 EPS for the current year.
In related news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 10,000 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.88, for a total value of $1,268,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 34,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,408,445.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael David Jones sold 1,000 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.44, for a total value of $120,440.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,051 shares of company stock worth $3,670,342. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 21,200.0% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 213 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Private Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 183.7% during the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $216,000. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $221,000.
About Group 1 Automotive
Group 1 Automotive, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates in the automotive retail industry. The company sells new and used cars, light trucks, and vehicle parts, as well as service insurance contracts; arranges related vehicle financing; and offers automotive maintenance and repair services. It operates primarily in the metropolitan areas in 15 states in the United States; 33 towns in the United Kingdom; and 3 states in Brazil.
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