WCM Investment Management LLC Invests $5.05 Million in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 15,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,049,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GPI. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 54.9% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 79 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp raised its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 881.8% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the third quarter worth about $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Down 6.0%

Group 1 Automotive stock opened at $306.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.21. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.10 and a fifty-two week high of $488.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $312.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $335.44.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.82 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $5.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.46% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $10.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GPI. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, June 12th. DA Davidson set a $425.00 target price on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, July 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Evercore set a $440.00 target price on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $338.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $426.89.

About Group 1 Automotive

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.