Comerica Bank Sells 6,546 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Key Points

• Comerica Bank cut its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 64.9%, selling 6,546 shares and retaining 3,536 shares worth about $1.39 million at quarter-end.
• Group 1 reported quarterly EPS of $8.66 (missed $8.82) and revenue of $5.41B (missed $5.42B), with revenue down 1.8% YoY, and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.55 ($2.20 annual, ~0.6% yield).
• Wall Street remains generally positive: the consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $450 and several firms issuing buy/outperform ratings and raised targets.

Comerica Bank lowered its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Free Report) by 64.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,536 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,546 shares during the period. Comerica Bank's holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $1,391,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 177.2% during the third quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 9,986 shares of the company's stock worth $4,369,000 after acquiring an additional 6,384 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 22.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 184,732 shares of the company's stock worth $80,822,000 after acquiring an additional 33,542 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter worth about $2,538,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 2,053.8% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 51,972 shares of the company's stock worth $20,403,000 after acquiring an additional 49,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 10.6% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 131,085 shares of the company's stock worth $57,350,000 after acquiring an additional 12,566 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on GPI. Benchmark raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $425.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $490.00 to $420.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Evercore initiated coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $500.00 target price on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $450.00.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE GPI opened at $349.93 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $329.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $368.49. The company has a market cap of $4.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.87. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 52-week low of $292.44 and a 52-week high of $488.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $8.82 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $5.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.17 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 42.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is a positive change from Group 1 Automotive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. Group 1 Automotive's payout ratio is currently 8.40%.

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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