Bank of America Corp DE Decreases Stock Holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Key Points

• Bank of America reduced its Group 1 Automotive stake by 28.7% in the first quarter, selling 34,260 shares and retaining 85,029 shares valued at approximately $28.1 million.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with an overall “Hold” consensus and an average price target of $400.22. Targets range from $300 to $462, while Zacks Research downgraded the stock to “strong sell.”
• Group 1 Automotive reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results, including EPS of $9.61 versus the $10.60 estimate and revenue down 5.6% year over year; the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share.

Bank of America Corp DE lowered its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Free Report) by 28.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,029 shares of the company's stock after selling 34,260 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.71% of Group 1 Automotive worth $28,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GPI. First Horizon Corp boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 881.8% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 108 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Group 1 Automotive by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 118 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the fourth quarter valued at about $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $300.00 price objective (down from $400.00) on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Evercore set a $360.00 target price on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research cut Group 1 Automotive from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Citigroup raised their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $425.00 price target on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, July 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $400.22.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

GPI opened at $264.33 on Monday. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a twelve month low of $259.24 and a twelve month high of $488.39. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $304.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $322.04.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $9.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $10.60 by ($0.99). Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 15.66% and a net margin of 1.31%.The firm had revenue of $5.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $10.82 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. Group 1 Automotive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.16%.

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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