Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Stock Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 688,416 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,100 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 5.79% of Group 1 Automotive worth $227,612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GPI. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased 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 during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 20.3% during the first 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 period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the first quarter valued at approximately $229,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 6.2% in 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 worth $15,993,000 after acquiring an additional 2,452 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 46.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,202,000 after acquiring an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on GPI shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $338.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $390.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective 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. 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 company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $426.89.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of Group 1 Automotive stock opened at $326.67 on Friday. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $279.10 and a 1 year high of $488.39. The firm has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50-day moving average of $312.32 and a 200 day moving average of $333.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.21.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $10.17 EPS. Group 1 Automotive’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors 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 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.