Congress Asset Management Co. Has $11.36 Million Stock Holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Congress Asset Management Co. reduced its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,970 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,367 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. owned about 0.20% of Group 1 Automotive worth $11,362,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Advent International L.P. boosted its position in Group 1 Automotive by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Advent International L.P. now owns 235,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,833,000 after buying an additional 31,244 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the second quarter worth $70,561,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 9.6% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 151,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,026,000 after purchasing an additional 13,296 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 51.3% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 114,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,503,000 after purchasing an additional 38,705 shares during the period. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in Group 1 Automotive by 1,287.8% during the 2nd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 102,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,544,000 after purchasing an additional 94,650 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GPI shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Monday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $435.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $510.00 target price for the company. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $472.29.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of GPI stock opened at $405.27 on Monday. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $355.91 and a fifty-two week high of $490.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $407.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $431.85. The company has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.18, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.90.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $10.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $10.64 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $5.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.90 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, November 11th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 10.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

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

Group 1 Automotive Profile

Group 1 Automotive, Inc (NYSE: GPI) is an international automotive retailer headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company operates an extensive network of franchised dealerships, offering new and pre-owned vehicles from leading domestic and import manufacturers. In addition to vehicle sales, Group 1 Automotive provides a full complement of aftersales services, including finance and insurance products, parts distribution, collision repair centers and vehicle maintenance.

Founded in 1997, Group 1 Automotive has grown through both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to establish a presence across the United States, the United Kingdom and Brazil.