Point72 Asset Management L.P. Boosts Holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 424.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,494 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,494 shares during the quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. owned 0.08% of Group 1 Automotive worth $4,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GPI. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its position in Group 1 Automotive by 73.5% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 1,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 2nd quarter valued at about $452,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 47.5% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 270 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Group 1 Automotive by 8.3% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 40,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,052,000 after buying an additional 3,095 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 18.1% in the second quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 108,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,255,000 after buying an additional 16,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the business’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 owns 6,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,340,928.59. The trade was a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE GPI opened at $430.49 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.47 and a beta of 1.35. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12 month low of $255.73 and a 12 month high of $440.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The company has a 50-day moving average of $387.31 and a 200-day moving average of $351.21.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $12.07 earnings per share. Group 1 Automotive’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, November 12th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 9.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GPI shares. Stephens assumed coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $394.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of 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 upgraded Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock 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 four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $425.20.

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.