Advent International L.P. Cuts Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Advent International L.P. decreased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 14.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 117,752 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,208 shares during the period. Group 1 Automotive makes up about 0.9% of Advent International L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Advent International L.P.’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $38,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GPI. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,966,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Group 1 Automotive by 20.3% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 37,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,143,000 after buying an additional 6,239 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the first quarter valued at about $229,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 6.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 41,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,993,000 after acquiring an additional 2,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 46.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,202,000 after acquiring an additional 877 shares during the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $338.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $390.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, June 12th. Citigroup upped their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $426.89.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

Shares of GPI opened at $331.14 on Monday. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 52 week low of $279.10 and a 52 week 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 firm has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.64, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $312.66 and a 200-day moving average of $333.48.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.66 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter last year, the business earned $10.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41.57 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is 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.