Geode Capital Management LLC Has $117.08 Million Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 0.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 305,602 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,985 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $117,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Group 1 Automotive by 51.9% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 82 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the 2nd quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $430.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Group 1 Automotive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $437.67.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPI opened at $421.71 on Wednesday. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $255.73 and a 1 year high of $440.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $393.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $356.21.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.87 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 2.68%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $12.07 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is currently 5.01%.

Insider Activity at Group 1 Automotive

In related news, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total transaction of $29,546.79. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,340,928.59. This trade represents a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.