Invesco Ltd. Acquires 3,277 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 1.8% during Q1, now owning 180,580 shares valued at approximately $68.97 million.
• Group 1 Automotive reported earnings of $11.52 per share for the latest quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $10.31 and reflecting a 21.4% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, with a payout ratio of 5.51% and an annualized yield of 0.5%, set to be paid on September 16th.

Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Free Report) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 180,580 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,277 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 1.40% of Group 1 Automotive worth $68,973,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GPI. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 119.4% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 68 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 24.8% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 146 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the first quarter worth $87,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 95.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 237 shares of the company's stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the first quarter worth $138,000. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Steven Mizell sold 525 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.98, for a total value of $219,439.50. Following 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Daniel James Mchenry sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 16,674 shares in the company, valued at $7,365,072.54. The trade was a 15.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GPI. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $463.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Benchmark began coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Zacks Research lowered shares of Group 1 Automotive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered shares of Group 1 Automotive from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Group 1 Automotive presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $479.43.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of GPI traded up $5.5540 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $451.3440. The company had a trading volume of 103,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 166,673. The firm has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a fifty day moving average of $438.03 and a 200-day moving average of $429.26. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12 month low of $336.33 and a 12 month high of $490.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

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

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Group 1 Automotive's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.