Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Cuts Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 4.4%, owning approximately 0.37% of the company, valued at $18.16 million after selling 2,186 shares in the first quarter.
• Group 1 Automotive's stock performance shows a P/E ratio of 12.19 and has a market cap of $5.72 billion, with a twelve-month high of $490.09.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, which equates to an annual yield of 0.5%, indicating solid cash flow to return to shareholders.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Free Report) by 4.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 47,541 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,186 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.37% of Group 1 Automotive worth $18,158,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the first quarter valued at approximately $74,499,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,039,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 74,711.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 90,522 shares of the company's stock valued at $345,750,000 after acquiring an additional 90,401 shares in the last quarter. Advent International L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 65.7% during the fourth quarter. Advent International L.P. now owns 203,951 shares of the company's stock worth $85,961,000 after buying an additional 80,870 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the fourth quarter worth $21,608,000. 99.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $510.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Benchmark started coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Four 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, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $479.43.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of Group 1 Automotive stock traded down $1.6060 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $445.1340. 103,364 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 165,929. The stock's fifty day moving average is $438.29 and its 200 day moving average is $429.53. 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 1 year low of $336.33 and a 1 year high of $490.09. The firm has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 12.24, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.83.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $11.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.31 by $1.21. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.10% and a net margin of 2.18%.The business had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Group 1 Automotive's payout ratio is 5.51%.

Insider Activity at Group 1 Automotive

In related news, Director Steven Mizell sold 525 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.98, for a total value of $219,439.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,343.84. This represents a 98.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Daniel James Mchenry sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $441.71, for a total transaction of $1,325,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 16,674 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,365,072.54. The trade was a 15.25% 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 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.