Eventide Asset Management LLC Trims Holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Eventide Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 15.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,943 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,145 shares during the period. Eventide Asset Management LLC owned about 0.26% of Group 1 Automotive worth $13,385,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the first quarter valued at $204,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 5.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,765,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 2.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,109,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 73.5% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 1,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional raised its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 3.2% in the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 9,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,960,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GPI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Stephens initiated coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $394.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $430.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $425.20.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

GPI stock opened at $427.76 on Friday. 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 $5.70 billion, a PE ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 1.33. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12-month low of $255.73 and a 12-month high of $440.32. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $381.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $345.90.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $12.07 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.38 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.01%.

Group 1 Automotive announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 12th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 9.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total transaction of $29,546.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,340,928.59. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Group 1 Automotive 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.