United Services Automobile Association Takes Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Key Points

• United Services Automobile Association acquired 862 shares of Group 1 Automotive, valued at approximately $324,000, establishing a new position in the company during the first quarter.
• Following notable insider sales by directors, including a significant transaction where Director Lincoln Pereira sold 7,000 shares for over $3 million, insiders now own just 2.10% of the company's stock.
• Analysts are mixed on Group 1 Automotive, with price targets being adjusted; recent ratings include a boost from JPMorgan to $425 and a downgrade from Wall Street Zen from "buy" to "hold."

United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 862 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $324,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 571 shares of the company's stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 91.6% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 33,869 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,275,000 after purchasing an additional 16,191 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 13,453 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,124 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,935 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,080,000 after purchasing an additional 1,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,539 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,178,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.92% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $560.00 to $545.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Group 1 Automotive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $476.57.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 0.5%

Group 1 Automotive stock traded up $2.36 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $460.61. The stock had a trading volume of 144,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 154,331. The stock has a market cap of $5.96 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.86. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 52 week low of $344.38 and a 52 week high of $490.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $447.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $429.95.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $11.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.31 by $1.21. The business had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.65 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 18.10%. The company's revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.82 EPS. Analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Group 1 Automotive's payout ratio is presently 5.51%.

Insider Transactions at Group 1 Automotive

In other news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 7,000 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.34, for a total transaction of $3,285,380.00. Following the sale, the director owned 82,967 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,939,731.78. The trade was a 7.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven Mizell sold 525 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.98, for a total transaction of $219,439.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8 shares in the company, valued at $3,343.84. The trade was a 98.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

About Group 1 Automotive

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.