OP Asset Management Ltd Makes New $1.93 Million Investment in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 5,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,934,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Group 1 Automotive by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 471 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Group 1 Automotive by 54.9% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 79 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 551 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on GPI shares. Bank of America began coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $385.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $338.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $441.25.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

Shares of Group 1 Automotive stock opened at $301.52 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $327.25 and a 200 day moving average of $347.56. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 52 week low of $292.44 and a 52 week high of $488.39. The company has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of 11.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.82 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $5.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.46% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The business’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $10.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 42.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is presently 8.40%.

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.