Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $285.74 Million Stock Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 653,107 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,998 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 5.17% of Group 1 Automotive worth $285,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 25,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,209,000 after buying an additional 681 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 10.6% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 131,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,350,000 after acquiring an additional 12,566 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 778.3% during the second quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 5,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,301,000 after acquiring an additional 4,670 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 8.4% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,226,000 after acquiring an additional 3,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 40.1% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,253,000 after purchasing an additional 2,132 shares during the period. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore began coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $500.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $460.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $370.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $458.00.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of GPI stock opened at $319.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.91. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 52-week low of $306.96 and a 52-week high of $488.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $364.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $405.61.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $8.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.36 by ($0.87). Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 17.39% and a net margin of 1.44%.The firm had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $10.02 EPS. Group 1 Automotive’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 11th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 10.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is 8.80%.

About Group 1 Automotive

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.