Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

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

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GPI. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter worth $30,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 159.6% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 54.6% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Amundi purchased a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note 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 lowered Group 1 Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $200.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Guggenheim raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $331.67.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

GPI stock opened at $265.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.42. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $214.25 and a 52-week high of $310.08. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $271.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $273.64.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $9.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $4.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $10.86 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.97 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

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

Group 1 Automotive Profile

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.