Vanguard Group Inc. Has $553.42 Million Stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,407,113 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,147 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Group 1 Automotive worth $553,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 54.9% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 79 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp grew its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 881.8% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 108 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 118 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter worth about $55,000. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GPI shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $490.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $370.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Evercore initiated coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $500.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $470.00 to $455.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $447.14.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Down 6.6%

Shares of NYSE GPI opened at $330.24 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $328.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $370.36. The firm has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 12.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.87. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $292.44 and a 1 year high of $488.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.21.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.82 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $5.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.46% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $10.17 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41.56 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a $0.55 dividend. This is a boost from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.40%.

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.