Foster & Motley Inc. Invests $2.52 Million in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Foster & Motley Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 8,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,525,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,167,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the 4th quarter valued at $98,125,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 1,001.6% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 12,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,026,000 after buying an additional 11,619 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 51.6% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 78,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,064,000 after acquiring an additional 26,822 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,049,000. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of GPI stock opened at $250.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.41, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $301.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $320.04. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12 month low of $249.54 and a 12 month high of $488.39.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $9.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $10.60 by ($0.99). Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 15.66%. The business had revenue of $5.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $10.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.96 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on GPI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Group 1 Automotive from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $380.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. DA Davidson set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Evercore set a $360.00 target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $400.22.

Group 1 Automotive 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.