Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) Shares Bought by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council raised its position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,799 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council owned approximately 0.26% of Group 1 Automotive worth $10,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GPI. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 4th quarter worth $24,562,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 574,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,390,000 after acquiring an additional 63,726 shares during the period. Covalis Capital LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the third quarter valued at about $16,330,000. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the third quarter valued at about $12,703,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 188.1% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 37,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,126,000 after purchasing an additional 24,601 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on GPI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $200.00 to $255.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $331.67.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

NYSE:GPI traded up $21.31 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $300.81. 253,438 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 138,944. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $271.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.03. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $214.25 and a 1 year high of $310.08. The company has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a PE ratio of 6.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.42.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $9.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.44 by ($0.94). The firm had revenue of $4.50 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $10.86 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 39.37 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is 4.41%.

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.