Park Avenue Securities LLC Purchases 210 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,355 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $993,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 51.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 82 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 121 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 267 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GPI. Morgan Stanley upgraded Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $430.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $425.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $436.83.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Up 0.7 %

GPI stock opened at $447.84 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $5.96 billion, a PE ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 1.36. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1-year low of $255.73 and a 1-year high of $449.58. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $423.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $377.94.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its 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 return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 2.68%. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $12.07 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.36 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is 5.01%.

Group 1 Automotive announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 9.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board 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 on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total value of $29,546.79. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,340,928.59. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $426.68, for a total value of $2,560,080.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

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.