Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 31,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,066,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of Group 1 Automotive as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 244.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 56,319 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,573,000 after purchasing an additional 39,982 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $272,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 121 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Group 1 Automotive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $211,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,355 shares of the company's stock worth $993,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company's stock.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Up 0.1 %

Group 1 Automotive stock opened at $430.20 on Friday. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.86 and a fifty-two week high of $490.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $403.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $420.50. The stock has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 0.94.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $10.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $9.68 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $5.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.37 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.09% and a net margin of 2.47%. The company's revenue was up 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $9.49 EPS. Research analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. This is a boost from Group 1 Automotive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Group 1 Automotive's payout ratio is presently 5.61%.

Insider Activity at Group 1 Automotive

In other Group 1 Automotive news, VP Michael David Jones sold 1,613 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $405.57, for a total value of $654,184.41. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,260 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,350,008.20. The trade was a 16.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $460.00 target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $502.00 to $426.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $463.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $495.00 to $435.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $449.86.

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.

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