Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) Stock Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $365.77 and traded as high as $427.85. Group 1 Automotive shares last traded at $416.25, with a volume of 113,590 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens assumed coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $394.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim lifted 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. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $437.67.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $412.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $366.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 1.36.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.87 by $0.03. The business 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $12.07 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. 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 repurchase $500.00 million in 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 management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 98,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,013,899.56. The trade was a 5.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 6,259 shares in the company, valued at $2,340,928.59. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 121 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 2.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 156,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,701,000 after acquiring an additional 3,507 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $272,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 305,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,080,000 after purchasing an additional 1,985 shares during the period. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.