Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Invests $1.01 Million in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP acquired a new position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,011,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its position in Group 1 Automotive by 133.0% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC purchased a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $215,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 59.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,909 shares of the company's stock worth $3,029,000 after purchasing an additional 2,949 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 31.8% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 28,341 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,856,000 after purchasing an additional 6,842 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 152,923 shares of the company's stock worth $58,576,000 after buying an additional 1,735 shares during the period. 99.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Group 1 Automotive

In other Group 1 Automotive news, 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 transaction of $29,546.79. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,340,928.59. The trade was a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GPI. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Guggenheim upped their price target 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 began coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $394.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised Group 1 Automotive from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $425.20.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of GPI stock traded down $1.25 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $431.96. 178,465 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 135,965. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $378.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $343.82. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12-month low of $255.73 and a 12-month high of $440.32. The stock has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 1.33.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm earned $12.07 EPS. Group 1 Automotive's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.37 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

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

About Group 1 Automotive

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.