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

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 11th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.50 per share on Monday, December 15th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st.

Group 1 Automotive has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Group 1 Automotive has a payout ratio of 4.6% meaning 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 3.2%

NYSE GPI traded up $12.08 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $392.10. 197,651 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 181,782. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $435.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $436.35. Group 1 Automotive has a 12-month low of $355.91 and a 12-month high of $490.09. The firm has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.72, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $10.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.64 by ($0.19). Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 18.08%. The company had revenue of $5.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.90 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive will post 41 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, November 11th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 10.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.