Duality Advisers LP Sells 799 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Duality Advisers LP lowered its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,533 shares of the company’s stock after selling 799 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $1,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 47.5% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 15,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,082,000 after acquiring an additional 4,844 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. lifted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 11.0% in the third quarter. Burney Co. now owns 70,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,832,000 after buying an additional 6,946 shares in the last quarter. Covalis Capital LLP bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the third quarter worth approximately $16,330,000. Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the third quarter worth approximately $12,703,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the third quarter worth approximately $2,770,000. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $255.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $331.67.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of GPI stock opened at $268.65 on Tuesday. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12 month low of $214.25 and a 12 month high of $310.08. The stock has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $271.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $274.03.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $4.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.41 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 24.36% and a net margin of 3.34%. Group 1 Automotive’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $10.86 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 39.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This is a positive change from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.41%.

About Group 1 Automotive

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.