Hodges Capital Management Inc. Grows Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 67.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 36,821 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,861 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $15,520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 4,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,263,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 55.3% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 2,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $854,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,235,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 87.6% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Group 1 Automotive by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 4,058 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GPI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $425.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Thursday. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $447.83.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Group 1 Automotive stock opened at $456.62 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.24. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1-year low of $255.73 and a 1-year high of $471.28. The business has a 50-day moving average of $431.34 and a 200-day moving average of $387.91. The company has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 1.36.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $10.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.77 by $1.25. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 2.47%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 40.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.12%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Group 1 Automotive

In other Group 1 Automotive news, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total transaction of $29,546.79. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,259 shares in the company, valued at $2,340,928.59. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 6,000 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.68, for a total value of $2,560,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 98,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,013,899.56. The trade was a 5.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.