Values First Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of GPI. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 53.7% in the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 17.1% during 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. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 47.5% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Group 1 Automotive by 1,452.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 559 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity at Group 1 Automotive

In other Group 1 Automotive news, VP Michael David Jones sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 9,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,419,344.58. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:GPI opened at $346.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.32. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1-year low of $239.01 and a 1-year high of $393.93. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $364.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $326.89.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $9.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.36 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $4.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.68 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 20.53% and a net margin of 3.03%. The company’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $11.73 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 39.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 2nd were given a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.