Foster & Motley Inc. Invests $2.52 Million in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Foster & Motley Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,525,000. Foster & Motley Inc. owned about 0.07% of Group 1 Automotive at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Horizon Corp raised its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 881.8% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 108 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the 3rd quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on GPI. Weiss Ratings downgraded Group 1 Automotive from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Evercore set a $360.00 target price on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Seaport Research Partners set a $420.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $470.00 to $435.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $400.22.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GPI opened at $250.03 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $301.62 and a 200-day moving average of $320.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.41, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.82. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $249.54 and a fifty-two week high of $488.39.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $9.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $5.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.66 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $10.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is presently 9.16%.

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.