Royal Bank of Canada Decreases Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Royal Bank of Canada trimmed its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 6.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,347 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,092 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.34% of Group 1 Automotive worth $16,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the first quarter valued at $74,499,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 1.8% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 180,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,973,000 after acquiring an additional 3,277 shares in the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 0.7% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 173,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,307,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 143,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,552,000 after acquiring an additional 15,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 130.5% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 99,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,162,000 after acquiring an additional 56,564 shares in the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Group 1 Automotive

In other news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.34, for a total value of $3,285,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 82,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,939,731.78. This trade represents a 7.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Steven Mizell sold 525 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.98, for a total value of $219,439.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,343.84. This trade represents a 98.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPI opened at $474.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 13.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The business has a 50-day moving average of $447.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $429.31. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12 month low of $336.33 and a 12 month high of $490.09.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its quarterly 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. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.10% and a net margin of 2.18%.The company had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPI has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $463.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Zacks Research downgraded Group 1 Automotive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Guggenheim downgraded Group 1 Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $510.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $479.43.

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.