Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (GPI) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.50 on September 16th

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, August 12th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.50 per share on Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd.

Group 1 Automotive has a dividend payout ratio of 4.6% 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 Stock Performance

NYSE GPI opened at $459.16 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $436.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $429.83. Group 1 Automotive has a twelve month low of $336.33 and a twelve month high of $490.09. The company has a market capitalization of $5.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $11.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.31 by $1.21. The business had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.65 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.10% and a net margin of 2.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.82 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive will post 41 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GPI shares. Guggenheim cut Group 1 Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Benchmark assumed coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $463.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $510.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $471.57.

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.