Public Sector Pension Investment Board Increases Holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,482 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,233 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned approximately 0.39% of Group 1 Automotive worth $21,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter worth about $26,000. MAI Capital Management increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 131.3% in the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 74 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Group 1 Automotive by 25.8% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 21.9% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 301 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GPI. Evercore assumed coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $410.00 to $370.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $466.57.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of GPI opened at $333.56 on Friday. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $328.85 and a 1 year high of $490.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a PE ratio of 13.34 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $388.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $415.77.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $8.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.36 by ($0.87). Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The firm had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $10.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This is an increase from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.00%.

Group 1 Automotive announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, November 11th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 10.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.