Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,650,000 shares, a decrease of 5.7% from the December 15th total of 1,750,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 125,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 13.1 days. Approximately 12.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Group 1 Automotive

In other news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.68, for a total transaction of $2,560,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 98,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,013,899.56. This trade represents a 5.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total value of $29,546.79. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,340,928.59. This trade represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Group 1 Automotive

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Group 1 Automotive by 22.0% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 639,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,004,000 after purchasing an additional 115,143 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 2.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 541,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,518,000 after buying an additional 10,969 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 133.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 407,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,253,000 after buying an additional 232,846 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Group 1 Automotive by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 305,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,080,000 after buying an additional 1,985 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 156,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,701,000 after acquiring an additional 3,507 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on GPI shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $425.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $430.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $436.83.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

Shares of GPI stock opened at $447.84 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $422.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $376.26. The company has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Group 1 Automotive has a twelve month low of $255.73 and a twelve month high of $449.58.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.87 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 2.68% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $12.07 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive will post 38.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, November 12th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 9.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is presently 5.01%.

Group 1 Automotive Company 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.