Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is Group 1 Automotive (GPI) Stock Undervalued Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

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, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.

One company to watch right now is Group 1 Automotive (GPI - Free Report) . GPI is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 7.56 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 11.95. Over the past 52 weeks, GPI's Forward P/E has been as high as 9.75 and as low as 2.64, with a median of 8.10.

Investors should also recognize that GPI has a P/B ratio of 1.04. 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. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 1.50. Over the past year, GPI's P/B has been as high as 1.71 and as low as 0.48, with a median of 1.32.

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 popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. GPI has a P/S ratio of 0.1. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.21.

Finally, we should also recognize that GPI has a P/CF ratio of 5.37. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. GPI's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 11.41. Over the past 52 weeks, GPI's P/CF has been as high as 8.44 and as low as 2.52, with a median of 6.45.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Group 1 Automotive's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, GPI looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (GPI) - free report >>

Published in