Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Cuts Stock Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,084 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $1,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GPI. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 133.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 407,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,253,000 after buying an additional 232,846 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 596.3% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 76,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,259,000 after buying an additional 65,414 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 3,663.1% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 55,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,174,000 after purchasing an additional 53,811 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 244.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 56,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,573,000 after purchasing an additional 39,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in Group 1 Automotive in the third quarter valued at approximately $13,117,000. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Group 1 Automotive

In related news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 6,000 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $426.68, for a total value of $2,560,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 98,467 shares in the company, valued at $42,013,899.56. This trade represents a 5.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

GPI stock opened at $459.53 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.50 and a beta of 1.36. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a twelve month low of $258.77 and a twelve month high of $490.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $447.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $405.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $10.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.77 by $1.25. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.09% and a net margin of 2.47%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 12th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 9.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. This is a positive change from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $495.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim upped their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $460.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $460.33.

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.