Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Has $1.44 Million Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. reduced its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 28.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,931 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,981 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $1,436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the fourth quarter valued at $5,167,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the 4th quarter valued at $98,125,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 1,001.6% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 12,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,026,000 after purchasing an additional 11,619 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Group 1 Automotive by 51.6% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 78,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,064,000 after purchasing an additional 26,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Group 1 Automotive in the first quarter worth $5,049,000. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on GPI shares. DA Davidson set a $425.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Seaport Research Partners set a $420.00 price objective on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $435.00 to $365.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $392.44.

Insider Activity at Group 1 Automotive

In related news, major shareholder Conifer Management, L.L.C. acquired 26,561 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $276.03 per share, for a total transaction of $7,331,632.83. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 1,222,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $337,408,030.80. The trade was a 2.22% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of Group 1 Automotive stock opened at $301.91 on Friday. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12 month low of $249.54 and a 12 month high of $488.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $289.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $313.33.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $9.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $10.60 by ($0.99). Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 15.66% and a net margin of 1.31%.The business had revenue of $5.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.96 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.16%.

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.