Amundi Raises Stock Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Key Points

• Amundi increased its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 15.4%, owning a total of 7,754 shares valued at approximately $2.89 million after buying an additional 1,037 shares.
• Several institutional investors, including Allspring Global Investments and SG Americas Securities, significantly boosted their stakes in Group 1 Automotive during the 1st quarter, highlighting increased interest in the company.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share with an annual yield of 0.4%, contributing to a generally positive outlook despite mixed analyst ratings.

Amundi grew its position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Free Report) by 15.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,754 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned approximately 0.06% of Group 1 Automotive worth $2,887,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Advent International L.P. boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 15.3% in the first quarter. Advent International L.P. now owns 235,195 shares of the company's stock worth $89,833,000 after purchasing an additional 31,244 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the first quarter worth approximately $74,499,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 1.8% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 180,580 shares of the company's stock worth $68,973,000 after purchasing an additional 3,277 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 0.7% during the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 173,602 shares of the company's stock worth $66,307,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 130.5% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 99,914 shares of the company's stock worth $38,162,000 after acquiring an additional 56,564 shares during the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GPI shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Group 1 Automotive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Benchmark started coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Group 1 Automotive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $476.57.

Insider Activity at Group 1 Automotive

In other Group 1 Automotive news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 7,000 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction on 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 $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 available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven Mizell sold 525 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was 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 approximately $3,343.84. This trade represents a 98.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Down 1.7%

Group 1 Automotive stock traded down $7.98 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $458.34. 131,145 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 165,703. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 1.05. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12 month low of $344.38 and a 12 month high of $490.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $447.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $429.50. The company has a market cap of $5.93 billion, a PE ratio of 12.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Group 1 Automotive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.51%.

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.