Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $2.50 Million Stock Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 6.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,540 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 413 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.05% of Group 1 Automotive worth $2,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 54.0% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $983,000 after buying an additional 903 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 315.5% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $657,000 after buying an additional 1,306 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 95.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 237 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 68.1% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,799,000 after buying an additional 5,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 60.3% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 109 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Group 1 Automotive

In other news, Director Steven Mizell sold 525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.98, for a total value of $219,439.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,343.84. This represents a 98.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Daniel James Mchenry sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $441.71, for a total value of $1,325,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 16,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,365,072.54. This represents a 15.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Up 5.6%

Shares of NYSE GPI opened at $470.1430 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $6.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.83. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12 month low of $336.33 and a 12 month high of $490.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $439.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $428.98.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $11.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.31 by $1.21. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.65 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.10% and a net margin of 2.18%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded Group 1 Automotive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Group 1 Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Guggenheim downgraded Group 1 Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $510.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $479.43.

Group 1 Automotive Company 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.