Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Has $1.22 Million Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lessened its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 61.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,697 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,804 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $1,222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,167,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 2,053.8% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 51,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,403,000 after purchasing an additional 49,559 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $98,125,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 1,001.6% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 12,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,026,000 after purchasing an additional 11,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Group 1 Automotive by 366,770.5% in 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. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPI has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $470.00 to $435.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Evercore set a $440.00 target price on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Citigroup upped their price target 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. DA Davidson set a $425.00 price target on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $338.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $420.22.

More Group 1 Automotive News

Here are the key news stories impacting Group 1 Automotive this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Group 1 agreed to acquire 10 Hennessy Automobile Companies dealerships and related real estate in Atlanta. The transaction is expected to add approximately $1.7 billion in annualized revenue and be immediately accretive to earnings per share after closing, strengthening Group 1’s dealership cluster strategy. The company also completed a $50 million annualized U.S. cost-reduction initiative. Group 1 Hennessy acquisition announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Group 1 ended the quarter with 251 dealerships across the U.S. and U.K. Management’s earnings presentation and conference call provided additional detail on operating trends, the cost-savings program and the proposed Hennessy acquisition, but the acquisition remains subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Group 1 Automotive second-quarter earnings presentation
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter results missed Wall Street expectations. Adjusted EPS was $9.61, below consensus estimates ranging from $10.60 to $10.79, while revenue of $5.39 billion fell short of approximately $5.66 billion. Revenue declined 5.6% year over year, and earnings were lower than the prior-year period as consumer spending softened. Net income from continuing operations fell to $103.0 million from $139.8 million. Group 1 Automotive second-quarter earnings miss
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan downgraded GPI from “overweight” to “neutral” and reduced its price target from $380 to $320. Although the revised target implies potential upside, the downgrade signals less confidence in near-term outperformance following the earnings shortfall. Benzinga report on JPMorgan’s Group 1 Automotive downgrade

Group 1 Automotive Stock Down 3.2%

NYSE:GPI opened at $287.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12-month low of $274.27 and a 12-month high of $488.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $313.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $331.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.83.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $9.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.60 by ($0.99). Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 15.74%. The company had revenue of $5.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $10.82 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is 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.