Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.50

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 12th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.50 per share on Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. This is a boost from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47.

Group 1 Automotive has raised its dividend payment by an average of 12.2% per year over the last three years. Group 1 Automotive has a payout ratio of 4.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Group 1 Automotive to earn $44.53 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 4.2%.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Up 1.0 %

GPI stock opened at $473.31 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $437.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $395.74. Group 1 Automotive has a twelve month low of $258.77 and a twelve month high of $489.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $10.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.77 by $1.25. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 18.25%. On average, equities analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive will post 40.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 12th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 9.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Group 1 Automotive

In related news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 6,000 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at $42,013,899.56. This represents a 5.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $425.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $460.00 target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $447.83.

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.