Foster & Motley Inc. Sells 166 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Foster & Motley Inc. reduced its position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 1.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,713 shares of the company’s stock after selling 166 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $4,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GPI. Elequin Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 90.5% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 80 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 60.3% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 24.8% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the first quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Group 1 Automotive

In other Group 1 Automotive news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.34, for a total value of $3,285,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 82,967 shares in the company, valued at $38,939,731.78. This trade represents a 7.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Steven Mizell sold 525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.98, for a total transaction of $219,439.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,343.84. This trade represents a 98.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

Shares of GPI opened at $433.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.85. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a twelve month low of $344.38 and a twelve month high of $490.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a 50 day moving average of $452.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $433.96.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $11.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.31 by $1.21. The company had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.65 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 18.10%. Group 1 Automotive’s revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GPI shares. Zacks Research cut Group 1 Automotive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $430.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $560.00 to $545.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $478.00.

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.