Meritage Portfolio Management Boosts Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,087 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 164 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $941,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GPI. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 574,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,390,000 after buying an additional 63,726 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 171,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,039,000 after buying an additional 10,099 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 150,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,344,000 after buying an additional 4,129 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 28.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 95,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,681,000 after buying an additional 21,001 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Group 1 Automotive in the 4th quarter valued at about $24,562,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. StockNews.com downgraded 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Group 1 Automotive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $331.67.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Up 0.8 %

Group 1 Automotive stock traded up $2.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $302.74. The company had a trading volume of 81,542 shares, compared to its average volume of 141,945. The stock has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.09, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.42. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $214.25 and a 1 year high of $310.08. 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 $272.82 and a 200 day moving average of $274.60.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $9.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $10.44 by ($0.94). The firm had revenue of $4.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.41 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 22.82%. Group 1 Automotive’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $10.86 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 39.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.47 dividend. This is an increase from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.44%.

Group 1 Automotive Company 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.