Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Makes New Investment in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 12.5% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 574,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,390,000 after purchasing an additional 63,726 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 171,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,039,000 after buying an additional 10,099 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 150,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,344,000 after acquiring an additional 4,129 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 28.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 95,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,681,000 after acquiring an additional 21,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the fourth quarter worth about $24,562,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com cut Group 1 Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Guggenheim upgraded Group 1 Automotive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $331.67.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPI opened at $300.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $274.60. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 52 week low of $214.25 and a 52 week high of $310.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $9.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $10.44 by ($0.94). The business had revenue of $4.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.41 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 22.82%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $10.86 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 39.37 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This is a positive change from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is 4.44%.

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.