Insider Selling: Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) VP Sells $412,482.00 in Stock

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) VP Michael David Jones sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.63, for a total transaction of $412,482.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,398,557.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of GPI opened at $295.04 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $276.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $276.47. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $214.25 and a 1 year high of $310.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.38.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $9.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.44 by ($0.94). Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 22.45%. The business had revenue of $4.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $10.86 EPS. Group 1 Automotive’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 39.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. This is a boost from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 15,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,082,000 after purchasing an additional 4,844 shares during the period. Burney Co. boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 11.0% during the third quarter. Burney Co. now owns 70,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,832,000 after buying an additional 6,946 shares during the period. Covalis Capital LLP bought a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter valued at $16,330,000. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the third quarter valued at $12,703,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 4th quarter worth about $2,103,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Group 1 Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $255.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $315.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $330.83.

Group 1 Automotive Company 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.