De Lisle Partners LLP Invests $5.90 Million in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

De Lisle Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 15,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,901,000. Group 1 Automotive makes up approximately 1.0% of De Lisle Partners LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the first quarter valued at about $204,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Group 1 Automotive by 5.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,765,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,109,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 73.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 1,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional raised its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 9,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,960,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. 99.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Group 1 Automotive

In related news, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total value of $29,546.79. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,340,928.59. This trade represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $430.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Stephens initiated coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $394.00 target price for the company. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $425.20.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:GPI opened at $427.76 on Thursday. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $255.73 and a 1 year high of $440.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $379.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $344.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The company has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 1.33.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.87 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 2.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $12.07 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.38 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 12th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 9.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.01%.

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.