Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,114 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,213 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.16% of Group 1 Automotive worth $8,800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GPI. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 25.8% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 122 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 6.1% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 471 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 2,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,246,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in Group 1 Automotive by 1.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 1,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $822,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of GPI opened at $358.12 on Thursday. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12-month low of $342.58 and a 12-month high of $490.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.32 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $397.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $419.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $8.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.36 by ($0.87). The firm had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.71 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 1.44%.Group 1 Automotive’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $10.02 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 10.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Group 1 Automotive from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $500.00 target price on the stock. Barclays set a $470.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley set a $460.00 price objective on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, January 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $472.29.

Group 1 Automotive Company 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.