WINTON GROUP Ltd Makes New Investment in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Key Points

• WINTON GROUP Ltd opened a new position in Group 1 Automotive, buying 13,138 shares valued at about $5.17 million in the fourth quarter.
• Group 1 Automotive reported Q1 earnings of $8.66 per share, missing Wall Street expectations, while revenue came in nearly flat year over year at $5.41 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share, and analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $441.25.

WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 13,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,167,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd owned 0.10% of Group 1 Automotive as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GPI. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 366,770.5% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 25,431,464 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,002,195,000 after buying an additional 25,424,532 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 4th quarter valued at $98,125,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 968.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 84,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,931,000 after buying an additional 76,514 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 34.8% in 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 during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 365.9% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 63,980 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,992,000 after buying an additional 50,248 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company's stock.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:GPI opened at $311.66 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $331.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $356.63. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $292.44 and a one year high of $488.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 11.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Group 1 Automotive's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GPI. Benchmark raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $425.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $460.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $385.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $441.25.

Group 1 Automotive Company Profile

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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