Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) Price Target Raised to $425.00

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) had its target price upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $420.00 to $425.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on GPI. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $394.00 price objective for the company. Two investment 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.80.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

NYSE:GPI traded up $2.71 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $405.50. The stock had a trading volume of 16,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 134,529. Group 1 Automotive has a 12-month low of $255.73 and a 12-month high of $413.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $366.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $333.42. The stock has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.33.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.87 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 2.68% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $12.07 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive will post 38.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael David Jones sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.99, for a total transaction of $421,188.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,742 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,419,344.58. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Group 1 Automotive news, VP Michael David Jones sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.99, for a total value of $421,188.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,419,344.58. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $29,546.79. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,259 shares in the company, valued at $2,340,928.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GPI. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 22.0% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 639,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,004,000 after purchasing an additional 115,143 shares in the last quarter. Woodson Capital Management LP grew its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 114.6% in the first quarter. Woodson Capital Management LP now owns 142,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,643,000 after purchasing an additional 76,102 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 18.1% during the second quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 108,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,255,000 after buying an additional 16,600 shares during the last quarter. Shellback Capital LP raised its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 27.1% in the 2nd quarter. Shellback Capital LP now owns 95,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,331,000 after purchasing an additional 20,302 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 596.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 76,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,259,000 after acquiring an additional 65,414 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Group 1 Automotive Company Profile

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.