BNP Paribas Financial Markets Buys 7,598 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 25.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 36,917 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,598 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.29% of Group 1 Automotive worth $14,519,000 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. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 54.9% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 79 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 881.8% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter valued at $55,000. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $385.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Benchmark raised Group 1 Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Group 1 Automotive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $441.25.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPI opened at $311.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.81. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1-year low of $292.44 and a 1-year high of $488.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $331.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $356.63.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.82 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $5.41 billion for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $10.17 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 42.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is currently 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.