Advent International L.P. Has $60.93 Million Stock Holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Advent International L.P. decreased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 40.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 139,525 shares of the company’s stock after selling 95,670 shares during the quarter. Group 1 Automotive accounts for about 2.0% of Advent International L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Advent International L.P. owned approximately 1.08% of Group 1 Automotive worth $60,932,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 180,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,973,000 after buying an additional 3,277 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 6.7% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,497,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 75,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,113,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 48.4% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the period. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GPI opened at $413.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.45, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 1.06. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $355.91 and a fifty-two week high of $490.09. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $409.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $432.42.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $10.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.64 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $5.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.67 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.08% and a net margin of 1.67%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.00%.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, November 11th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 10.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Monday. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $560.00 to $545.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $460.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $510.00 price objective on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Group 1 Automotive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $472.29.

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.