Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 1,902 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 51.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,823 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,902 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $798,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GPI. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 26.5% during the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $640,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. EULAV Asset Management raised its position in Group 1 Automotive by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 28,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,257,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Woodson Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Woodson Capital Management LP now owns 60,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,251,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC grew its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 99.7% in the 3rd quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 1,731 shares of the company’s stock worth $757,000 after buying an additional 864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $500.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $460.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $435.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $473.25.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of Group 1 Automotive stock opened at $406.27 on Thursday. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $355.91 and a 1 year high of $490.09. The firm has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.22 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $401.66 and a 200 day moving average of $425.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $10.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $10.64 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $5.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.67 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.08% and a net margin of 1.67%.The company’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 10.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.00%.

Group 1 Automotive Company Profile

Group 1 Automotive, Inc (NYSE: GPI) is an international automotive retailer headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company operates an extensive network of franchised dealerships, offering new and pre-owned vehicles from leading domestic and import manufacturers. In addition to vehicle sales, Group 1 Automotive provides a full complement of aftersales services, including finance and insurance products, parts distribution, collision repair centers and vehicle maintenance.

Founded in 1997, Group 1 Automotive has grown through both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to establish a presence across the United States, the United Kingdom and Brazil.