Verition Fund Management LLC Grows Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 3,663.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 55,280 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,811 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $21,174,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GPI. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 639,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,004,000 after acquiring an additional 115,143 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 133.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 407,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,253,000 after purchasing an additional 232,846 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 152,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,576,000 after buying an additional 1,735 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 18.1% in the second quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 108,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,255,000 after buying an additional 16,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shellback Capital LP lifted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 27.1% during the 2nd quarter. Shellback Capital LP now owns 95,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,331,000 after acquiring an additional 20,302 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on GPI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Stephens started coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $394.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of 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. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $425.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Group 1 Automotive

In other Group 1 Automotive news, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total transaction of $29,546.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,340,928.59. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of GPI opened at $426.87 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $381.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $345.90. The firm has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 1.33. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12-month low of $255.73 and a 12-month high of $440.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

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 the consensus estimate of $9.87 by $0.03. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 2.68% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $12.07 EPS. Group 1 Automotive’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.38 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

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

Group 1 Automotive declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, November 12th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 9.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.