Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Reduces Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 37.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,423 shares of the company’s stock after selling 36,149 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.43% of Group 1 Automotive worth $18,109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter worth $30,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 159.6% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 122 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 54.6% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Amundi purchased a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GPI. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $255.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of GPI stock opened at $290.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of 6.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50-day moving average of $270.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $272.26. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1-year low of $211.00 and a 1-year high of $310.08.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $9.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $10.44 by ($0.94). Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 3.34% and a return on equity of 24.36%. The business had revenue of $4.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $10.86 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.87 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. This is a positive change from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.41%.

Group 1 Automotive Profile

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.