Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Sells 15,094 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Key Points

• Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC has reduced its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 42.4%, selling 15,094 shares and now holding 20,473 shares valued at approximately $7.82 million.
• In its latest earnings report, Group 1 Automotive beat estimates with an EPS of $11.52 and reported a 21.4% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, with a total annualized dividend of $2.00 and a yield of 0.4%.

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Free Report) by 42.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,473 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,094 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned about 0.16% of Group 1 Automotive worth $7,820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 571 shares of the company's stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 23 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. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 2.7% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,144 shares of the company's stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its position in Group 1 Automotive by 1.2% during the first quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 2,718 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 1,302 shares of the company's stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company's stock.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

GPI traded up $0.27 on Thursday, hitting $477.31. The company had a trading volume of 177,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 166,359. The stock has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The company's fifty day moving average price is $441.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $429.59. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1-year low of $336.33 and a 1-year high of $490.09.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $11.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.31 by $1.21. The business 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%. Group 1 Automotive's revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.82 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Group 1 Automotive's payout ratio is presently 5.51%.

Insider Activity at Group 1 Automotive

In other news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.34, for a total transaction of $3,285,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 82,967 shares in the company, valued at $38,939,731.78. The trade was a 7.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Daniel James Mchenry sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $441.71, for a total transaction of $1,325,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 16,674 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold a total of 10,525 shares of company stock worth $4,829,950 in the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GPI shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $463.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Zacks Research downgraded Group 1 Automotive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Group 1 Automotive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $479.43.

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.