Boston Partners Grows Stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 51.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 114,096 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,705 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned 0.88% of Group 1 Automotive worth $49,503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Elequin Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 90.5% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 80 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Group 1 Automotive by 25.8% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the first quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the first quarter valued at approximately $115,000. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on 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. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen cut Group 1 Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 30th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Tuesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $510.00 target price for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $478.88.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

NYSE GPI opened at $392.10 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $433.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $436.04. The firm has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.91. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a twelve month low of $355.91 and a twelve month high of $490.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

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

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.00%.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, November 11th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 10.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Group 1 Automotive

In other Group 1 Automotive news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 7,000 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly owned 82,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,939,731.78. The trade was a 7.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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.