Group 1 Automotive Inc key statistics and ratios
In fiscal 2025, Group 1 Automotive Inc had return on equity of 11.3%, an operating margin of 3.3%, debt equal to 133.1% of equity and a current ratio of 1.08. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.
Financial ratios
| Fiscal year | 2009Dec 2009 | 2010Dec 2010 | 2011Dec 2011 | 2012Dec 2012 | 2013Dec 2013 | 2014Dec 2014 | 2015Dec 2015 | 2016Dec 2016 | 2017Dec 2017 | 2018Dec 2018 | 2019Dec 2019 | 2020Dec 2020 | 2021Dec 2021 | 2022Dec 2022 | 2023Dec 2023 | 2024Dec 2024 | 2025Dec 2025 | LTMSept 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 17.1% | 15.9% | 15.8% | 14.9% | 14.5% | 14.6% | 14.4% | 14.7% | 14.8% | 14.9% | 15.2% | 16.4% | 18.1% | 18.3% | 16.9% | 16.3% | 16.0% | 15.9% |
| Operating margin | 2.4% | 2.7% | 3.2% | 3.1% | 3.1% | 3.0% | 2.6% | 3.1% | 3.1% | 2.9% | 3.1% | 4.7% | 6.6% | 6.7% | 5.4% | 4.6% | 3.3% | 3.6% |
| Net margin | 0.8% | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1.9% | 1.4% | 1.5% | 2.7% | 4.1% | 4.6% | 3.4% | 2.5% | 1.4% | 1.7% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 7.4% | −2.5% | 2.3% | −2.2% | −0.6% | 0.5% | 0.2% | 2.1% | −0.2% | 1.1% | 1.5% | 6.6% | 8.3% | 2.7% | 0.0% | 1.7% | 1.9% | 1.0% |
| Return on equity | 4.8% | 6.7% | 10.4% | 12.0% | 12.0% | 9.2% | 9.9% | 15.9% | 20.8% | 14.2% | 14.8% | 21.2% | 33.7% | 37.0% | 24.5% | 17.6% | 11.3% | 13.0% |
| Return on assets | — | 2.3% | 3.5% | 3.6% | 3.3% | 2.3% | 2.2% | 3.3% | 4.6% | 3.2% | 3.3% | 5.4% | 10.2% | 12.1% | 8.3% | 5.7% | 3.2% | 3.6% |
| Asset turnover | — | 2.50 | 2.60 | 2.72 | 2.61 | 2.50 | 2.49 | 2.46 | 2.38 | 2.35 | 2.19 | 1.99 | 2.49 | 2.60 | 2.47 | 2.27 | 2.24 | 2.06 |
| Current ratio | — | 1.14 | 1.13 | 1.12 | 1.06 | 1.06 | 1.07 | 1.05 | 1.06 | 1.01 | 1.04 | 1.09 | 1.08 | 1.03 | 1.11 | 1.03 | 1.08 | 1.32 |
| Debt to equity | 0.0% | 59.4% | 61.6% | 69.2% | 67.7% | 110.6% | 136.9% | 139.9% | 124.1% | 126.4% | 119.6% | 92.9% | 112.1% | 93.5% | 78.8% | 98.5% | 133.1% | 127.7% |
| Effective tax rate | 36.5% | 37.8% | 37.6% | 37.7% | 40.6% | 43.4% | 48.4% | 35.3% | 2.6% | 23.2% | 24.1% | 22.1% | 21.9% | 23.5% | 24.8% | 24.5% | 28.1% | 24.1% |
| SG&A as % of revenue | 13.7% | 12.6% | 12.1% | 11.3% | 11.0% | 10.7% | 10.5% | 10.8% | 11.0% | 11.0% | 11.3% | 10.7% | 11.0% | 11.0% | 10.8% | 10.9% | 11.3% | 11.3% |
| Capital spending as % of revenue | 0.5% | 1.3% | 1.0% | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1.5% | 1.1% | 1.4% | 1.9% | 1.2% | 1.7% | 1.0% | 1.1% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1.1% |
| Free cash flow ÷ net income | 956.0% | −273.5% | 168.4% | −163.5% | −44.3% | 51.5% | 22.1% | 154.7% | −9.0% | 81.7% | 102.9% | 245.1% | 202.1% | 57.3% | 0.8% | 68.5% | 130.5% | 59.6% |
| Dividends ÷ net income | — | 4.8% | 13.6% | 13.4% | 13.9% | 18.4% | 21.2% | 13.6% | 9.6% | 13.2% | 11.7% | 3.8% | 4.3% | 3.2% | 4.2% | 5.1% | 7.9% | 6.8% |
| Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow | — | — | 44.7% | — | — | 112.5% | 564.6% | 64.9% | — | 158.8% | 12.1% | 13.0% | 21.0% | 126.6% | >999% | 54.7% | 136.7% | 178.2% |
| Quarter | 2024 Q4Dec 2024 | 2025 Q1Mar 2025 | 2025 Q2Jun 2025 | 2025 Q3Sept 2025 | 2025 Q4Dec 2025 | 2026 Q1Mar 2026 | 2026 Q2Jun 2026 | 2026 Q3Sept 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 15.9% | 16.2% | 16.4% | 15.9% | 15.7% | 16.2% | 16.0% | 15.8% |
| Operating margin | 3.5% | 4.2% | 4.4% | 1.9% | 2.5% | 4.5% | 3.8% | 3.7% |
| Net margin | 1.7% | 2.3% | 2.5% | 0.2% | 0.8% | 2.4% | 1.9% | 1.9% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 2.2% | 1.9% | 3.2% | 1.5% | 0.9% | 0.2% | 0.4% | 2.7% |
| Current ratio | 1.03 | 1.00 | 1.05 | 1.06 | 1.08 | 0.95 | 1.02 | 1.32 |
| Debt to equity | 92.1% | 88.9% | 97.5% | 106.4% | 123.4% | 100.4% | 103.3% | 118.2% |
| SG&A as % of revenue | 11.1% | 11.2% | 11.3% | 11.3% | 11.2% | 11.1% | 11.6% | 11.5% |
Financial health
- Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $4.5bn of assets due within a year against $3.4bn of liabilities due within a year.
- Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities Not assessable from the reported split. Not assessable.
- More cash than debt $882m of cash against $3.6bn of debt.
- Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 118% of equity.
- Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 98% to 118% over five years.
- A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $471m of operating cash flow against $3.6bn of debt.
- Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Interest not separately reported. Not assessable.
Moat
Moderate moat
How hard Group 1 Automotive's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.
- Returns on capital 12 / 20
Cash operating profit has been a median 10.1% of total assets over 10 years.
- Pricing power 8 / 20
Gross margin has been a median 16.1%, moving by 1.2 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.
- Durability 10 / 20
Operating margin has been a median 3.8%; its worst year was 2.9%.
- Cash conversion 10 / 20
Free cash flow was positive in 9 of 10 years, at a median 1.3% of revenue.
- Discipline 20 / 20
The diluted share count fell 32.9% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.2% of revenue.
AI disruption exposure: Medium. In this industry, AI could change how the product is made or sold, without replacing the core asset. The score above includes a 5-point deduction for that exposure (60 before it).
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