-- CFRA, an independent research provider, has providedwith the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:
We lower our 12-month target by $10 to $375, based on a 2027 P/E of 7.9x, a slight premium to GPI's 10-year average forward P/E of 7.7x. We lower our adjusted EPS estimates to $41.50 from $44.40 for '26 and to $47.70 from $48.40 for '27. After an uncharacteristically weak earnings release, we are maintaining a Hold on shares of GPI. Heading into the release, GPI's quarterly earnings had beat more than 90% of the time over the past eight years, but a sizeable Q1 miss on disappointing sales cause us to remain at a Hold. However, one silver lining was an improvement in the performance of its U.K. operations. On the positive side, GPI continues to aggressively return cash to shareholders through both dividends and buybacks, retiring 1.7% of total shares outstanding in Q1. The fundamental backdrop remains difficult for auto dealerships, and this quarter marked three straight bottom-line misses for GPI, which had previously held one of the best earnings track records in auto retail.