Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) Shares to Pay Quarterly Dividend of $0.55

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share on Tuesday, December 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 1st.

Group 1 Automotive has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.3% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Group 1 Automotive has a dividend payout ratio of 5.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Group 1 Automotive to earn $40.91 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 5.4%.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

NYSE GPI traded down $2.58 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $261.60. The stock had a trading volume of 22,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 200,577. Group 1 Automotive has a 52-week low of $224.65 and a 52-week high of $429.00. The company has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $255.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $302.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $9.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.50 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 1.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $10.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive will post 37.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Group 1 Automotive

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. is an international automotive retailer headquartered in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1997, the company operates franchised dealerships and collision centers in the United States and the United Kingdom. Its dealerships sell new and used vehicles from a range of manufacturers and provide related services, including vehicle maintenance and repair, parts sales, collision repair, and automotive financing and insurance products. Group 1’s business also includes manufacturer-authorized service operations and parts departments that support customers throughout vehicle ownership.