T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Has $44.75 Million Stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 40.8% during the first quarter, now holding 117,167 shares worth approximately $44.75 million.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds now own a significant 99.92% of Group 1 Automotive's stock, indicating high institutional interest in the company.
• The company reported a 21.4% increase in revenue year-over-year, reaching $5.70 billion, and exceeded earnings expectations with an EPS of $11.52.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Free Report) by 40.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 117,167 shares of the company's stock after selling 80,861 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.91% of Group 1 Automotive worth $44,752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GPI. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the 1st quarter valued at $74,499,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the 1st quarter valued at $36,039,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Group 1 Automotive by 74,711.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 90,522 shares of the company's stock valued at $345,750,000 after purchasing an additional 90,401 shares during the period. Advent International L.P. grew its position in Group 1 Automotive by 65.7% in the 4th quarter. Advent International L.P. now owns 203,951 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,961,000 after purchasing an additional 80,870 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Group 1 Automotive by 130.5% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 99,914 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,162,000 after purchasing an additional 56,564 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Steven Mizell sold 525 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.98, for a total transaction of $219,439.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8 shares in the company, valued at $3,343.84. The trade was a 98.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Daniel James Mchenry sold 3,000 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $441.71, for a total value of $1,325,130.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer 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. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

GPI opened at $470.1430 on Friday. 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 has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.83. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $439.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $429.29. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $11.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.31 by $1.21. The company had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.65 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.10% and a net margin of 2.18%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.82 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Group 1 Automotive's 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.

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