South Dakota Investment Council Buys 400 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

South Dakota Investment Council boosted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 35,799 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $10,909,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 159.6% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 74.1% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised Group 1 Automotive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com cut Group 1 Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Guggenheim raised Group 1 Automotive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $331.67.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

Group 1 Automotive stock traded up $21.31 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $300.81. 253,438 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 138,944. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business has a fifty day moving average of $271.75 and a 200 day moving average of $274.03. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1-year low of $214.25 and a 1-year high of $310.08. The company has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a PE ratio of 6.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.42.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $9.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $10.44 by ($0.94). Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 24.36% and a net margin of 3.34%. The company had revenue of $4.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $10.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 39.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This is a positive change from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.41%.

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.