Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 16.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,863 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,343 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.26% of Group 1 Automotive worth $12,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 366,770.5% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 25,431,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,002,195,000 after purchasing an additional 25,424,532 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 968.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 84,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,931,000 after buying an additional 76,514 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 34.8% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 226,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,278,000 after buying an additional 58,641 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC increased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 365.9% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 63,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,992,000 after buying an additional 50,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 2,053.8% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 51,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,403,000 after buying an additional 49,559 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $338.00 price objective on the stock. Benchmark upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $441.25.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:GPI opened at $308.77 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $332.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $358.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.95. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1-year low of $292.44 and a 1-year high of $488.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.81.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.82 by ($0.16). Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.46% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The business had revenue of $5.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $10.17 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 42.37 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is presently 8.40%.

Group 1 Automotive Company Profile

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.