Geode Capital Management LLC Sells 5,948 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Geode Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 298,053 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,948 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $117,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 54.9% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 79 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 40.5% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $505,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 551 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on GPI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $385.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $338.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Group 1 Automotive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $441.25.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

GPI opened at $311.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.90, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $331.57 and a 200 day moving average of $356.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.95. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $292.44 and a fifty-two week high of $488.39.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.82 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $5.41 billion for 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%. Group 1 Automotive’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.17 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 42.37 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.40%.

About Group 1 Automotive

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.