Vanguard Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,484,127 shares of the company’s stock after selling 46,531 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Group 1 Automotive worth $452,273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 44.3% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 213 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 8,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,526,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $315.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised Group 1 Automotive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $255.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Guggenheim raised Group 1 Automotive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $330.83.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of GPI opened at $290.85 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.37. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $228.84 and a 1 year high of $323.95. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $302.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $286.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $9.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.52 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $4.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 22.45% and a net margin of 3.23%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.44%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Edward Mckissic sold 170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.92, for a total transaction of $54,216.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,939,671.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Edward Mckissic sold 170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.92, for a total transaction of $54,216.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,939,671.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael David Jones sold 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.63, for a total value of $412,482.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,398,557.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,007 shares of company stock valued at $1,221,218. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by 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.