Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) Shares Sold by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 956 shares of the company’s stock after selling 65 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $291,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GPI. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 3,302.8% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 493,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,752,000 after purchasing an additional 478,571 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 68.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 621,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,299,000 after buying an additional 251,565 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Group 1 Automotive by 164.2% during the first quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 251,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,842,000 after buying an additional 156,029 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 37.2% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 333,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,479,000 after buying an additional 90,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the fourth quarter worth about $24,562,000. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim raised Group 1 Automotive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $331.67.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of GPI opened at $265.68 on Friday. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 52-week low of $214.25 and a 52-week high of $310.08. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of 6.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $271.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $273.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $9.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.44 by ($0.94). The business had revenue of $4.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.41 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 24.36% and a net margin of 3.34%. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $10.86 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This is a positive change from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is 4.41%.

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.