Islay Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 2,844 Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Key Points

• Islay Capital Management LLC has purchased 2,844 shares of Group 1 Automotive, valued at approximately $1,086,000, signaling increasing institutional interest in the company.
• Recent insider selling includes CFO Daniel James Mchenry, who sold 3,000 shares for $1.33 million, reducing their ownership by 15.25%.
• Group 1 Automotive reported strong earnings, with EPS of $11.52, exceeding analysts' expectations and reflecting a 21.4% revenue growth year-over-year.

Islay Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,844 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,086,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GPI. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the first quarter worth $74,499,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the first quarter worth $36,039,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 74,711.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 90,522 shares of the company's stock worth $345,750,000 after buying an additional 90,401 shares during the period. 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, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 130.5% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 99,914 shares of the company's stock worth $38,162,000 after buying an additional 56,564 shares during the period. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Group 1 Automotive news, CFO Daniel James Mchenry sold 3,000 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $441.71, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Steven Mizell sold 525 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.98, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 98.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 5.6%

Shares of Group 1 Automotive stock opened at $470.1430 on Monday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $439.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $428.98. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $336.33 and a 1 year high of $490.09. The stock has a market cap of $6.08 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.83.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $11.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.31 by $1.21. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 18.10%. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.82 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPI has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. 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. lifted 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 note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Group 1 Automotive currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.