6,304 Shares in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI Bought by Garner Asset Management Corp

Garner Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 6,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPI. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 445.8% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 131 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 112.0% in the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the second quarter worth about $75,000. Finally, Group One Trading LLC bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the second quarter worth about $79,000. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Group 1 Automotive

In related news, major shareholder Conifer Management, L.L.C. acquired 133,472 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $243.58 per share, for a total transaction of $32,511,109.76. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,772,050 shares in the company, valued at $431,635,939. This represents a 8.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 820,030 shares of company stock worth $211,496,571. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Group 1 Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $271.00 to $259.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $300.00 to $232.00 in a report on Monday, October 5th. Evercore set a $360.00 target price on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, July 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $338.11.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

GPI opened at $265.56 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $254.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $306.13. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $224.65 and a fifty-two week high of $429.00. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.96.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $9.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.50 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 14.91%. The business’s revenue was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $10.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 37.40 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st were issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.96%.

About Group 1 Automotive

Group 1 Automotive, Inc is an international automotive retailer headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company operates dealerships that sell new and used automobiles and light trucks from a broad range of manufacturers.

In addition to vehicle sales, Group 1 Automotive provides automotive financing and insurance products, vehicle maintenance and repair, collision services, replacement parts, and other related services. Its dealerships also market vehicles through digital retailing platforms.

Founded in 1997, Group 1 Automotive serves customers through a network of dealerships and automotive service locations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Brazil.