Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Buys Shares of 172,145 Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 172,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,315,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 1.33% of Group 1 Automotive at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its position in Group 1 Automotive by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $640,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. EULAV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 28,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,257,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Woodson Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 3.4% in the third quarter. Woodson Capital Management LP now owns 60,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,251,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC increased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 99.7% during the third quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 1,731 shares of the company’s stock worth $757,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares during the period. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 5.1% during the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $460.00 price target on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Monday, December 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Group 1 Automotive from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Barclays began coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $510.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $500.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Group 1 Automotive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $475.75.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

GPI opened at $398.68 on Wednesday. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1-year low of $355.91 and a 1-year high of $490.09. The stock has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.95 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $401.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $425.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $10.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.64 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $5.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.67 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.08% and a net margin of 1.67%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 11th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 10.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is currently 7.00%.

About Group 1 Automotive

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.