Bridgewater Associates LP Decreases Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Bridgewater Associates LP lessened its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Free Report) by 30.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,894 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,494 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP owned about 0.06% of Group 1 Automotive worth $3,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in Group 1 Automotive by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 3,540 shares of the company's stock worth $1,492,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,385 shares of the company's stock valued at $584,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 4th quarter valued at $391,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 39,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,483,000 after buying an additional 4,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 840.0% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 423 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $502.00 to $426.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $495.00 to $435.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $460.00 target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $463.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Group 1 Automotive has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $449.86.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 2.0 %

GPI traded up $7.90 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $409.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 34,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 170,162. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The business's 50-day moving average is $417.23 and its 200-day moving average is $415.54. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.86 and a fifty-two week high of $490.09. The stock has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a PE ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 1.05.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $10.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $8.77 by $1.25. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.09% and a net margin of 2.47%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is a positive change from Group 1 Automotive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. Group 1 Automotive's dividend payout ratio is currently 5.44%.

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.