Leeward Investments LLC MA Buys 18,561 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Key Points

• Leeward Investments LLC MA increased its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 52% in the first quarter, buying 18,561 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 54,244 shares worth about $17.9 million.
• Wall Street analysts remain generally positive on GPI, with seven Buy ratings and three Hold ratings, resulting in a consensus Moderate Buy and an average price target of $441.25.
• Group 1 Automotive recently reported quarterly EPS of $8.66, slightly below expectations, and also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share, equal to a 0.7% annual yield.

Leeward Investments LLC MA boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Free Report) by 52.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,244 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 18,561 shares during the quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA owned about 0.46% of Group 1 Automotive worth $17,935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GPI. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased 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 worth $10,002,195,000 after purchasing an additional 25,424,532 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 678,316 shares of the company's stock valued at $266,788,000 after buying an additional 25,209 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 505,108 shares of the company's stock valued at $198,659,000 after buying an additional 7,418 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $98,125,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 226,915 shares of the company's stock valued at $99,278,000 after buying an additional 58,641 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on GPI shares. Benchmark raised Group 1 Automotive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $425.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $441.25.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of GPI stock opened at $319.33 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of 12.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.81. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $292.44 and a 1 year high of $488.39. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $329.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $349.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.21.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $8.82 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $5.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.42 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 1.46%.Group 1 Automotive's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $10.17 EPS. Research analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 42.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders 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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