Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI – Free Report) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,355 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GPI. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 133.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 407,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,253,000 after acquiring an additional 232,846 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 22.0% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 639,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,004,000 after buying an additional 115,143 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 596.3% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 76,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,259,000 after buying an additional 65,414 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 3,663.1% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 55,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,174,000 after buying an additional 53,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 244.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 56,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,573,000 after buying an additional 39,982 shares during the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages recently weighed in on GPI. StockNews.com upgraded Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim increased their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $425.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $436.83.
Group 1 Automotive Price Performance
Group 1 Automotive stock opened at $447.84 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $5.96 billion, a PE ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 1.36. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12 month low of $255.73 and a 12 month high of $449.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $423.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $377.94.
Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.87 by $0.03. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 2.68%. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $12.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.36 EPS for the current year.
Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.01%.
Group 1 Automotive announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, November 12th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 9.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.
Insider Transactions at Group 1 Automotive
In other Group 1 Automotive news, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total value of $29,546.79. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,340,928.59. The trade was a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 6,000 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.68, for a total value of $2,560,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 98,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,013,899.56. The trade was a 5.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
About Group 1 Automotive
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.
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