Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI Shares Bought by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 3,268.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,470 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,367 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $1,147,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GPI. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 54.9% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 79 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 881.8% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Group 1 Automotive in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 40.5% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the third quarter valued at $55,000. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GPI. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Citigroup raised their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Evercore set a $440.00 target price on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. DA Davidson set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Group 1 Automotive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $426.89.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPI opened at $331.14 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $312.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $333.92. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a one year low of $279.10 and a one year high of $488.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.64, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.83.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its earnings results 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). Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 1.46%.The business had revenue of $5.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $10.17 EPS. Group 1 Automotive’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41.57 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.40%.

About Group 1 Automotive

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.