Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 23,051 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 57.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,236 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,051 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.47% of Group 1 Automotive worth $24,222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GPI. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 53.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 146 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the second quarter worth $48,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Group 1 Automotive by 47.5% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 267 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 1,452.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 559 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Group 1 Automotive

In related news, VP Michael David Jones sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.99, for a total value of $421,188.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,742 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,419,344.58. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

Shares of GPI opened at $346.48 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $364.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $326.89. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1-year low of $239.01 and a 1-year high of $393.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $9.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.36 by $0.44. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 20.53% and a net margin of 3.03%. The company had revenue of $4.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $11.73 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 39.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 2nd were issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GPI. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $360.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Stephens started coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $394.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $396.80.

Group 1 Automotive Company 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.