Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI Shares Sold by Hodges Capital Management Inc.

Hodges Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 7.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,772 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,595 shares during the quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.15% of Group 1 Automotive worth $8,198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GPI. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 2.2% in the second quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Group 1 Automotive by 2.3% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 25.8% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Group 1 Automotive

In related news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.34, for a total transaction of $3,285,380.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 82,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,939,731.78. The trade was a 7.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $435.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Wall Street Zen cut Group 1 Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 30th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $474.43.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Up 1.5%

GPI stock opened at $390.67 on Monday. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 52-week low of $355.91 and a 52-week high of $490.09. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $438.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $436.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.91.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $10.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.64 by ($0.19). Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.08% and a net margin of 1.67%.The firm had revenue of $5.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.90 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.00%.

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.