Arizona State Retirement System Reduces Stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Arizona State Retirement System reduced its stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,929 shares of the company’s stock after selling 97 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $1,197,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $574,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 1,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 3,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $719,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

GPI opened at $269.44 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $272.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $273.75. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12-month low of $214.25 and a 12-month high of $310.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.32, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.42.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $9.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $10.44 by ($0.94). Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 24.36% and a net margin of 3.34%. The firm had revenue of $4.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $10.86 EPS. Group 1 Automotive’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. This is a positive change from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GPI. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Group 1 Automotive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $255.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Group 1 Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st.

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.