Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI Shares Acquired by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 13.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,756 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,740 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.20% of Group 1 Automotive worth $7,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GPI. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 3.0% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,966,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 20.3% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 37,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,143,000 after acquiring an additional 6,239 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Group 1 Automotive in the 1st quarter worth $229,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Group 1 Automotive by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 41,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,993,000 after acquiring an additional 2,452 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Group 1 Automotive by 46.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,202,000 after acquiring an additional 877 shares during the period. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

NYSE GPI opened at $331.14 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.64, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $312.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $333.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.95. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.10 and a fifty-two week high of $488.39.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.82 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $5.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 1.46%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $10.17 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on GPI. UBS Group dropped their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $338.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Evercore set a $440.00 target price on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Citigroup upped their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $470.00 to $435.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Group 1 Automotive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $426.89.

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.