Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 7.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,576 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,429 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.49% of Group 1 Automotive worth $25,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GPI. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 51.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 82 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 267 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

GPI opened at $426.18 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $401.40 and a 200 day moving average of $360.87. The stock has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 52-week low of $255.73 and a 52-week high of $440.32.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.87 by $0.03. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 2.68% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The firm had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $12.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.37 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, November 12th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 9.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Group 1 Automotive

In related news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 6,000 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.68, for a total value of $2,560,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 98,467 shares in the company, valued at $42,013,899.56. The trade was a 5.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,340,928.59. This trade represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GPI. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $394.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $430.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $437.67.

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.