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Is Group 1 Automotive (GPI) a Great Value Stock Right Now?

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While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.

Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.

Group 1 Automotive (GPI - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. GPI is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 6.41 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 7.64. Over the past 52 weeks, GPI's Forward P/E has been as high as 9.67 and as low as 5.67, with a median of 7.67.

Another notable valuation metric for GPI is its P/B ratio of 1.84. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. GPI's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 2.49. Within the past 52 weeks, GPI's P/B has been as high as 2.19 and as low as 1.19, with a median of 1.75.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. GPI has a P/S ratio of 0.26. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.4.

Finally, we should also recognize that GPI has a P/CF ratio of 5.52. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 10.18. Over the past year, GPI's P/CF has been as high as 8.46 and as low as 4.63, with a median of 6.73.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Group 1 Automotive's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that GPI is an impressive value stock right now.


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