Range Financial Group LLC Takes $416,000 Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $416,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 133.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 407,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,253,000 after purchasing an additional 232,846 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 22.0% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 639,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,004,000 after buying an additional 115,143 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 596.3% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 76,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,259,000 after buying an additional 65,414 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 3,663.1% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 55,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,174,000 after buying an additional 53,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 244.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 56,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,573,000 after buying an additional 39,982 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE GPI opened at $419.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $414.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $369.04. 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 $440.32.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.87 by $0.03. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 2.68% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $12.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.37 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, November 12th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 9.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is currently 5.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.68, for a total value of $2,560,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 98,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,013,899.56. This represents a 5.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total transaction of $29,546.79. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,340,928.59. The trade was a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stephens began coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $394.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $285.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $437.67.

Group 1 Automotive Profile

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.