793 Shares in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) Acquired by Atom Investors LP

Atom Investors LP bought a new position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 51.9% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 82 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Group 1 Automotive in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Group 1 Automotive in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 53.7% in the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Group 1 Automotive in the second quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $285.00 to $430.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $394.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $425.20.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Up 0.7 %

GPI stock opened at $435.07 on Thursday. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a twelve month low of $255.73 and a twelve month high of $440.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $385.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $349.25.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.87 by $0.03. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 2.68% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $12.07 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.37 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 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is currently 5.01%.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, November 12th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 9.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Group 1 Automotive

In other Group 1 Automotive news, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total value of $29,546.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,340,928.59. The trade was a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Group 1 Automotive Profile

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.