Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $804,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Corp boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 881.8% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 118 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GPI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $380.00 to $320.00 in a report on Friday, July 31st. Seaport Research Partners set a $420.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $470.00 to $435.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research lowered Group 1 Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (down from $400.00) on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $400.22.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of Group 1 Automotive stock opened at $258.57 on Tuesday. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 52-week low of $256.96 and a 52-week high of $488.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $303.19 and a 200 day moving average of $321.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.82.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $9.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.60 by ($0.99). Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 15.66%. The firm had revenue of $5.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.66 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $10.82 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is 9.16%.

Group 1 Automotive Company 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.