Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Sells 12,141 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC trimmed its holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 48.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,955 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,141 shares during the quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $3,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 139.4% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,131,000 after purchasing an additional 7,885 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 29,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,636,000 after acquiring an additional 1,822 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 4,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,263,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $360.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $430.00 in a report on Wednesday. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $394.00 price target for the company. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Group 1 Automotive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $396.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael David Jones sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.99, for a total value of $421,188.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,742 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,419,344.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

NYSE:GPI opened at $385.94 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $356.83 and its 200-day moving average is $315.54. The company has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 1.02. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 52-week low of $228.84 and a 52-week high of $393.93.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $9.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.36 by $0.44. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 20.53% and a net margin of 3.03%. The firm had revenue of $4.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $11.73 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 39.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 2nd were paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is 4.44%.

Group 1 Automotive Company 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.