Quantbot Technologies LP Makes New $2.23 Million Investment in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,228,000. Quantbot Technologies LP owned 0.06% of Group 1 Automotive as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 366,770.5% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 25,431,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,002,195,000 after purchasing an additional 25,424,532 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the 2nd quarter worth $593,420,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 688,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,612,000 after buying an additional 10,100 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 505,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,659,000 after buying an additional 7,418 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 4th quarter valued at about $98,125,000. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research cut Group 1 Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Group 1 Automotive from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $380.00 to $320.00 in a report on Friday, July 31st. DA Davidson set a $425.00 target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $435.00 to $365.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners set a $420.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $392.44.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

GPI stock opened at $259.48 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $296.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $317.45. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1-year low of $249.54 and a 1-year high of $488.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 10.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.82.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $9.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.60 by ($0.99). Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 15.66%. The business had revenue of $5.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $10.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is 9.16%.

Group 1 Automotive Profile

Group 1 Automotive, Inc (NYSE: GPI) is an international automotive retailer headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company operates an extensive network of franchised dealerships, offering new and pre-owned vehicles from leading domestic and import manufacturers. In addition to vehicle sales, Group 1 Automotive provides a full complement of aftersales services, including finance and insurance products, parts distribution, collision repair centers and vehicle maintenance.

Founded in 1997, Group 1 Automotive has grown through both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to establish a presence across the United States, the United Kingdom and Brazil.