Strs Ohio Sells 6,400 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Strs Ohio reduced its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 94.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 400 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,400 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $132,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the first quarter valued at about $220,000. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,992,000 after acquiring an additional 1,276 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $679,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,719,000. Finally, OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,934,000. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE GPI opened at $299.97 on Monday. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $279.10 and a 1 year high of $488.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $317.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $339.32. The company has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.45, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.83. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.82 by ($0.16). Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.46% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The business had revenue of $5.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $10.17 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. 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 presently 8.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on GPI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $385.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Evercore set a $440.00 price objective on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. DA Davidson set a $425.00 price objective on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $431.89.

Group 1 Automotive Company 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.