Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI Shares Acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 22.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 184,732 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 33,542 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $80,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. MAI Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 131.3% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 74 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the second quarter worth $43,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 21.9% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GPI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Group 1 Automotive from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $370.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley set a $460.00 price target on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Monday, December 8th. Evercore assumed coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $500.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $466.57.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of Group 1 Automotive stock opened at $331.77 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $378.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $412.39. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12 month low of $324.49 and a 12 month high of $488.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $8.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.36 by ($0.87). Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 17.39% and a net margin of 1.44%.The business had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $10.02 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a $0.55 dividend. This is a boost from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is presently 8.80%.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, November 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 10.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is 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.