Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (GPI) Cut to “Buy” at ValuEngine

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) was downgraded by stock analysts at ValuEngine from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, July 24th.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on GPI. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. BidaskClub raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $66.00 target price (down previously from $75.00) on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.50.

Shares of Group 1 Automotive (NYSE GPI) traded up 0.52% on Monday, reaching $57.53. 156,306 shares of the company’s stock traded hands. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.88 and a beta of 1.62. Group 1 Automotive has a 52 week low of $55.06 and a 52 week high of $83.18.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.26% and a return on equity of 15.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive will post $7.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, May 12th that allows the company to repurchase $75.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 5.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

ILLEGAL ACTIVITY WARNING: “[[title]]” was originally reported by [[site]] and is the sole property of of [[site]]. If you are accessing this article on another site, it was illegally stolen and republished in violation of United States and international copyright & trademark law. The legal version of this article can be read at [[permalink]].

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GPI. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 492.7% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 31,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,306,000 after buying an additional 25,877 shares in the last quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the first quarter valued at about $2,820,000. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the first quarter valued at about $836,000. Sanders Morris Harris Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the first quarter valued at about $1,701,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 17.5% in the first quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,325,000 after buying an additional 30,820 shares in the last quarter. 94.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Group 1 Automotive

Group 1 Automotive, Inc is an operator in the automotive retail industry. The Company, through its dealerships, sells new and used cars and light trucks; arranges related vehicle financing; sells service and insurance contracts; provides automotive maintenance and repair services, and sells vehicle parts.

To view ValuEngine’s full report, visit ValuEngine’s official website.