Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.47

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 12th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.47 per share on Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%.

Group 1 Automotive has raised its dividend payment by an average of 44.2% per year over the last three years. Group 1 Automotive has a dividend payout ratio of 4.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Group 1 Automotive to earn $40.01 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 4.7%.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

Shares of GPI stock traded down $6.90 on Tuesday, reaching $405.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 133,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 135,101. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $367.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $335.76. Group 1 Automotive has a 12-month low of $255.73 and a 12-month high of $417.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.90, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.33.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $12.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive will post 38.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Michael David Jones sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.99, for a total value of $421,188.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,419,344.58. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Group 1 Automotive news, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the business’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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,340,928.59. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Michael David Jones sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.99, for a total transaction of $421,188.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,419,344.58. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Stephens began coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $394.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Group 1 Automotive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.80.

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.