Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Grows Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 126.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,963 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,656 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $1,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GPI. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 26.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 515,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,312,000 after purchasing an additional 107,663 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 396,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,075,000 after buying an additional 9,587 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 111.1% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 161,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,949,000 after acquiring an additional 84,832 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 157,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,389,000 after acquiring an additional 888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,721,000. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GPI shares. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $502.00 to $426.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $495.00 to $435.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $460.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $463.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $449.86.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE GPI opened at $407.58 on Wednesday. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $279.86 and a 1 year high of $490.09. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $410.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $417.25. The company has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $10.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.68 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $5.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.37 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.09% and a net margin of 2.47%. Group 1 Automotive’s quarterly revenue was up 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.49 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This is an increase from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.61%.

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.