Sei Investments Co. Buys 5,262 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 75.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,264 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,262 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $4,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Group 1 Automotive by 6.1% during the 2nd 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. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 54.9% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 79 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 935 shares of the company’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 40.5% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of Group 1 Automotive stock opened at $270.99 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.82. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a twelve month low of $269.76 and a twelve month high of $488.39. The company’s fifty day moving average is $309.83 and its 200 day moving average is $327.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $5.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.66 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 15.66% and a net margin of 1.31%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $10.82 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 39.9 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is currently 9.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GPI shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $470.00 to $435.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group cut their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $338.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners set a $420.00 price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Monday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $411.33.

Group 1 Automotive Profile

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.