Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Increases Holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 471.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 23,957 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,768 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $7,921,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 54.9% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 79 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp increased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 881.8% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 108 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Assetmark Inc. raised 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 worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter valued at $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPI has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $385.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, June 12th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Benchmark upgraded Group 1 Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $460.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $441.25.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of GPI opened at $301.52 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.81. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12 month low of $292.44 and a 12 month high of $488.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $327.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $347.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

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 period in the previous year, the company earned $10.17 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 42.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.40%.

Group 1 Automotive Company 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.