Lakewood Capital Management LP Grows Stock Holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Lakewood Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 4.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,276 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Group 1 Automotive accounts for approximately 3.4% of Lakewood Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Lakewood Capital Management LP owned 0.82% of Group 1 Automotive worth $45,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Group 1 Automotive by 6.1% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 471 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 2,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 599 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $505,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

GPI stock opened at $300.01 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $355.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $400.48. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.00, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 1.08. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $298.21 and a 1 year high of $488.39.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $8.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $10.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is presently 8.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $460.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Bank of America initiated coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Evercore began coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $458.00.

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.