Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Buys Shares of 6,240 Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 6,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,817,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GPI. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 6.1% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 471 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 551 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming grew its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 191 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GPI. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $435.00 to $365.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (down from $400.00) on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, August 7th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Group 1 Automotive from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $380.00 to $320.00 in a report on Friday, July 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Group 1 Automotive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $392.44.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of GPI opened at $269.27 on Wednesday. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 52-week low of $249.54 and a 52-week high of $488.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $290.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $314.17. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 11.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.82.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $9.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $10.60 by ($0.99). Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 15.66% and a net margin of 1.31%.The firm had revenue of $5.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $10.82 earnings per share. Group 1 Automotive’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.96 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is 9.16%.

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.