Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Acquires 26,822 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Key Points

• Allspring Global Investments boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 51.6% in the first quarter, buying 26,822 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 78,794 shares worth about $26.1 million.
• Group 1 Automotive reported mixed quarterly results, with EPS of $8.66 missing analyst estimates and revenue of $5.41 billion slightly below expectations; revenue also fell 1.8% year over year.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on GPI, with a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average price target of $426.89, even as recent targets were adjusted by firms such as Citigroup, Barclays, UBS, and DA Davidson.

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Free Report) by 51.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 78,794 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 26,822 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned about 0.66% of Group 1 Automotive worth $26,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,167,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 1,001.6% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 12,779 shares of the company's stock worth $5,026,000 after acquiring an additional 11,619 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 4th quarter worth about $98,125,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 366,770.5% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 25,431,464 shares of the company's stock worth $10,002,195,000 after purchasing an additional 25,424,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 97.1% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,409 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,521,000 after purchasing an additional 3,157 shares in the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

GPI stock opened at $306.49 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.21. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $279.10 and a 1 year high of $488.39. The company has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.83. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $312.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $335.44.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $8.82 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $5.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.42 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.46% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The firm's revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $10.17 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GPI shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. DA Davidson set a $425.00 target price on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $338.00 to $330.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Barclays lowered their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $470.00 to $435.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $426.89.

Group 1 Automotive Profile

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.

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