Global Retirement Partners LLC Buys 70 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 59.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 188 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $79,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 51.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 82 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 20.0% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 264 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 622 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 70.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 121 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 98,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,013,899.56. This represents a 5.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on GPI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 target price for the company. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five 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 target price of $460.33.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of GPI stock opened at $459.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a PE ratio of 12.50 and a beta of 1.36. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a one year low of $258.77 and a one year high of $490.09. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $446.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $404.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $10.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.77 by $1.25. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.09% and a net margin of 2.47%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 12th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 9.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.44%.

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.