Guggenheim Raises Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) Price Target to $442.00

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) had its price target raised by investment analysts at Guggenheim from $420.00 to $442.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Guggenheim’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 4.95% from the stock’s current price.

GPI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley raised Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stephens began coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $394.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $425.20.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of Group 1 Automotive stock opened at $421.14 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50-day moving average of $376.37 and a 200 day moving average of $341.43. Group 1 Automotive has a 12 month low of $255.73 and a 12 month high of $422.92.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.87 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 2.68% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $12.07 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive will post 38.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 12th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 9.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 value of $29,546.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,340,928.59. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Group 1 Automotive

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the first quarter worth about $204,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 1st quarter valued at about $887,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 708.2% in the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,017,000 after purchasing an additional 6,048 shares during the period. Finally, PEAK6 Investments LLC purchased a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,665,000. 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.