Atria Investments Inc Raises Holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,225 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 57 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GPI. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 22.0% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 639,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,004,000 after acquiring an additional 115,143 shares during the last quarter. Woodson Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 114.6% during the 1st quarter. Woodson Capital Management LP now owns 142,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,643,000 after purchasing an additional 76,102 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 16,600 shares in the last quarter. Shellback Capital LP increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 27.1% in the second quarter. Shellback Capital LP now owns 95,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,331,000 after buying an additional 20,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 57.4% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 63,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,222,000 after buying an additional 23,051 shares in the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on GPI shares. Stephens began coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $394.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America lowered their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $430.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.80.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Down 3.1 %

GPI opened at $402.11 on Tuesday. 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 $422.28. The business’s 50 day moving average is $371.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $339.02. The firm has a market cap of $5.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.33.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.87 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 2.68% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $12.07 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.52 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is 5.01%.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 12th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 9.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Group 1 Automotive

In other news, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total value of $29,546.79. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,340,928.59. The trade was a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

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.