Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (GPI) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.47 on September 16th

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 8th, NASDAQ reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.47 per share on Monday, September 16th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th.

Group 1 Automotive has raised its dividend by an average of 44.2% annually over the last three years. Group 1 Automotive has a dividend payout ratio of 4.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Group 1 Automotive to earn $39.49 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 4.8%.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE GPI opened at $368.09 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Group 1 Automotive has a 52 week low of $228.84 and a 52 week high of $376.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a PE ratio of 8.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $322.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $299.53.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $9.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.36 by $0.44. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 3.03% and a return on equity of 20.53%. The firm had revenue of $4.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $11.73 EPS. Group 1 Automotive’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive will post 38.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Group 1 Automotive

In other news, VP Michael David Jones sold 1,200 shares of Group 1 Automotive 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 sale, the vice president now owns 9,742 shares in the company, valued at $3,419,344.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Michael David Jones sold 1,200 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $421,188.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 9,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,419,344.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Edward Mckissic sold 170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.92, for a total transaction of $54,216.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,939,671.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on GPI. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $260.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Bank of America lowered their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $343.00.

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.