Barclays PLC Purchases 39,982 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 244.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,319 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 39,982 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.42% of Group 1 Automotive worth $21,573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 51.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 82 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 2nd quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 47.5% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

GPI opened at $427.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $392.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $355.01. The firm has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 1.35. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $255.73 and a 1 year high of $440.32.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.87 by $0.03. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 2.68%. The firm had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $12.07 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.01%.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, November 12th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 9.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Stephens assumed coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $394.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $437.67.

Insider Transactions at Group 1 Automotive

In other Group 1 Automotive news, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total transaction of $29,546.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,340,928.59. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Group 1 Automotive Profile

Group 1 Automotive, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates in the automotive retail industry in the United States and the United Kingdom. The company sells new and used cars, light trucks, and vehicle parts, as well as service and insurance contracts; arranges related vehicle financing; and offers automotive maintenance and repair services.