Cubic Asset Management LLC Has $5.17 Million Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Cubic Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 16,956 shares of the company’s stock after selling 235 shares during the quarter. Group 1 Automotive comprises about 1.3% of Cubic Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Cubic Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $5,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 159.6% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Group 1 Automotive by 54.6% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Amundi bought a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on GPI. Morgan Stanley raised Group 1 Automotive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $200.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com lowered Group 1 Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Group 1 Automotive stock traded up $0.79 on Friday, hitting $276.79. The company had a trading volume of 70,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 125,179. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.42. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $214.25 and a 1 year high of $310.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $271.93 and a 200-day moving average of $273.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $9.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $10.44 by ($0.94). The company had revenue of $4.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.41 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 24.36% and a net margin of 3.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $10.86 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This is an increase from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is 4.41%.

About Group 1 Automotive

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.