5,200 Shares in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI Bought by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 5,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,719,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GPI. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 471 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 54.9% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 79 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC raised its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 935 shares of the company’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 40.5% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 118 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GPI. Citigroup increased their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Benchmark upgraded Group 1 Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $385.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $441.25.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GPI opened at $286.96 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $324.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $344.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.96, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a twelve month low of $284.37 and a twelve month high of $488.39.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released 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 business had revenue of $5.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $10.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 42.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is 8.40%.

Group 1 Automotive 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.