Benjamin Edwards Inc. Purchases 100 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 14.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 792 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $241,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the 4th quarter valued at about $24,562,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Group 1 Automotive by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 574,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,390,000 after purchasing an additional 63,726 shares during the period. Covalis Capital LLP bought a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the third quarter worth $16,330,000. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter valued at about $12,703,000. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 407.5% during the third quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 35,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,512,000 after buying an additional 28,424 shares during the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael David Jones sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.63, for a total transaction of $412,482.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,535 shares in the company, valued at $3,398,557.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GPI. Morgan Stanley upgraded Group 1 Automotive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $200.00 to $255.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com lowered 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 issued a $330.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $315.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Guggenheim raised 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $330.83.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 0.9 %

GPI stock traded up $2.51 on Friday, reaching $295.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 101,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 162,679. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $276.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $276.33. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12-month low of $214.25 and a 12-month high of $310.08. The firm has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of 6.97, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $9.50 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.41 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 22.45% and a net margin of 3.23%. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $10.86 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 39.6 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.47 dividend. This is an increase from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is 4.44%.

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.