American Century Companies Inc. Has $492,000 Stock Holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 35.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,654 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 429 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Woodson Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 114.6% during the first quarter. Woodson Capital Management LP now owns 142,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,643,000 after acquiring an additional 76,102 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $21,296,000. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 66.4% in the 4th quarter. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC now owns 84,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,893,000 after purchasing an additional 33,901 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 18.1% during the second quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 108,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,255,000 after buying an additional 16,600 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 227.2% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 23,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,971,000 after buying an additional 16,566 shares during the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GPI shares. Stephens began coverage on 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $360.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $430.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $396.80.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE GPI opened at $373.12 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $359.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $317.88. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12 month low of $228.84 and a 12 month high of $393.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.81, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is 4.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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