Perpetual Ltd Purchases 971 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Perpetual Ltd raised its position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 88.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,069 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 971 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $872,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GPI. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 639,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,004,000 after purchasing an additional 115,143 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 2.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 541,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,518,000 after acquiring an additional 10,969 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 133.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 407,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,253,000 after purchasing an additional 232,846 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 305,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,080,000 after purchasing an additional 1,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Group 1 Automotive by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 156,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,701,000 after purchasing an additional 3,507 shares during the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Group 1 Automotive

In other Group 1 Automotive news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $426.68, for a total transaction of $2,560,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 98,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,013,899.56. This trade represents a 5.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total transaction of $29,546.79. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,340,928.59. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $430.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $425.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $436.83.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Down 1.6 %

Group 1 Automotive stock opened at $440.48 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a PE ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 1.36. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12 month low of $255.73 and a 12 month high of $456.68. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $424.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $379.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.87 by $0.03. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 2.68% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The firm had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $12.07 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 12th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 9.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.01%.

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.