Swiss National Bank Sells 400 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Swiss National Bank decreased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.20% of Group 1 Automotive worth $10,151,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Group 1 Automotive by 596.3% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 76,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,259,000 after purchasing an additional 65,414 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,870,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $243,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 405 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 32.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,235,000 after buying an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Group 1 Automotive news, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total transaction of $29,546.79. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,340,928.59. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GPI shares. Morgan Stanley raised Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $430.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Stephens began coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $394.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $425.20.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of GPI opened at $421.14 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12 month low of $255.73 and a 12 month high of $422.92. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $377.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $342.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 1.33.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.87 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 2.68% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $12.07 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, November 12th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 9.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.01%.

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.