Fifth Third Bancorp Grows Stock Holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp sharply increased its stake in Group 1 Automotive during the first quarter, boosting holdings by 3,268.9% to 3,470 shares worth about $1.15 million.
• Wall Street remains cautiously positive on GPI, with seven analysts rating it a Buy and three Hold; the consensus target price is $426.89, even after some firms trimmed their estimates.
• Recent results were mixed: Group 1 Automotive posted Q1 EPS of $8.66, missing expectations, while revenue came in just below forecasts. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share, implying a 0.7% yield.

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Free Report) by 3,268.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,470 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,367 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $1,147,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 2,053.8% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the 4th quarter worth $5,167,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 1,001.6% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 12,779 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,026,000 after acquiring an additional 11,619 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the 4th quarter valued at about $98,125,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 366,770.5% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 25,431,464 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,002,195,000 after purchasing an additional 25,424,532 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GPI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $390.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Barclays cut their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $470.00 to $435.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. DA Davidson set a $425.00 price target on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, July 10th. Citigroup raised their price objective 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, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, July 10th. Seven investment 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 presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $426.89.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of GPI stock opened at $331.14 on Friday. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.10 and a fifty-two week high of $488.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $312.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $333.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.83. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $8.82 by ($0.16). Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 1.46%.The business had revenue of $5.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.17 earnings per share. Group 1 Automotive's quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Group 1 Automotive's payout ratio is presently 8.40%.

About Group 1 Automotive

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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