Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 1,552 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,486 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,552 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.48% of Group 1 Automotive worth $19,007,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 25,424,532 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 678,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,788,000 after acquiring an additional 25,209 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 505,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,659,000 after acquiring an additional 7,418 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $98,125,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 151,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,616,000 after purchasing an additional 7,501 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on GPI. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, July 10th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. DA Davidson set a $425.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Evercore set a $440.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $470.00 to $435.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $426.89.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPI opened at $326.39 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $312.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $334.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.46, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.83. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1-year low of $279.10 and a 1-year high of $488.39.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.82 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $5.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 1.46%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $10.17 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.40%.

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.