Group 1 Automotive (GPI) Projected to Post Earnings on Wednesday

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) is anticipated to release its earnings data before the market opens on Wednesday, January 29th. Analysts expect Group 1 Automotive to post earnings of $8.77 per share and revenue of $5,215,200.00 billion for the quarter. Parties interested in listening to the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.87 by $0.03. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 2.68%. The firm had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $12.07 EPS. Group 1 Automotive’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect Group 1 Automotive to post $38 EPS for the current fiscal year and $40 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 1.1 %

GPI opened at $454.67 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $427.47 and its 200-day moving average is $383.65. Group 1 Automotive has a 52-week low of $255.73 and a 52-week high of $458.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 1.36.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is 5.01%.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 buy up to 9.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Group 1 Automotive

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GPI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $425.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Group 1 Automotive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $436.83.

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.