Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (GPI) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 3rd

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 12th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share on Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This is an increase 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 payout ratio of 4.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Group 1 Automotive to earn $44.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 4.5%.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:GPI opened at $459.53 on Friday. Group 1 Automotive has a one year low of $258.77 and a one year high of $490.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.50 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $447.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $405.56.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 18.09%. Equities analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive will post 41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $460.33.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, November 12th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 9.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Group 1 Automotive

In other Group 1 Automotive news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 98,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,013,899.56. This represents a 5.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.