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

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) declared 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 annualized dividend 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 by an average of 12.2% per year over the last three years. Group 1 Automotive has a dividend payout ratio of 4.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE GPI traded up $4.77 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $473.31. The company had a trading volume of 111,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 136,055. The stock has a market cap of $6.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $436.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $395.19. 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 has a 12 month low of $258.77 and a 12 month high of $489.99.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $10.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.77 by $1.25. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 2.47%. As a group, research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive will post 40.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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

Insider Activity at Group 1 Automotive

In related news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.68, for a total value of $2,560,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 98,467 shares in the company, valued at $42,013,899.56. This trade represents a 5.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.