Stifel Financial Corp Has $6.17 Million Stock Holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Stifel Financial Corp lessened its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,099 shares of the company’s stock after selling 769 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp owned 0.12% of Group 1 Automotive worth $6,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPI. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 133.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 407,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,253,000 after purchasing an additional 232,846 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 22.0% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 639,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,004,000 after acquiring an additional 115,143 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 596.3% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 76,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,259,000 after acquiring an additional 65,414 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 3,663.1% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 55,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,174,000 after acquiring an additional 53,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the third quarter worth $13,117,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GPI. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $430.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $437.67.

Insider Activity at Group 1 Automotive

In other Group 1 Automotive news, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total transaction of $29,546.79. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,340,928.59. The trade was a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE GPI opened at $426.71 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a PE ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $392.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $354.70. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 52-week low of $255.73 and a 52-week high of $440.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.87 by $0.03. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 2.68%. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $12.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is 5.01%.

Group 1 Automotive announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 12th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 9.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Group 1 Automotive

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.