6,900 Shares in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) Acquired by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 6,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,103,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,137 shares of the company's stock worth $574,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the company's stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,257 shares of the company's stock worth $841,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 1,724 shares of the company's stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 3,176 shares of the company's stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Guggenheim upgraded Group 1 Automotive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded Group 1 Automotive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Group 1 Automotive from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $200.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $331.67.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of GPI stock traded down $2.57 on Thursday, hitting $263.17. The company had a trading volume of 123,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 134,491. The firm has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.42. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a twelve month low of $214.25 and a twelve month high of $310.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $272.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $273.60.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $9.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $10.44 by ($0.94). The business had revenue of $4.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.41 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 24.36% and a net margin of 3.34%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $10.86 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.47 dividend. This is a boost from Group 1 Automotive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Group 1 Automotive's dividend payout ratio is presently 4.41%.

Group 1 Automotive Company 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.