Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 51,549 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Free Report) by 81.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,687 shares of the company's stock after selling 51,549 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.09% of Group 1 Automotive worth $4,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 51.9% during the third 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. bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the third quarter worth $46,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 70.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 121 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 20.0% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 264 shares of the company's stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the company'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 transaction, the vice president now owns 6,259 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,340,928.59. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 98,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,013,899.56. This represents a 5.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of Group 1 Automotive stock traded up $0.21 on Tuesday, hitting $447.87. 118,862 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 110,563. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a PE ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 1.36. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $255.73 and a 1 year high of $456.68. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $424.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $379.07.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.87 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 2.68%. Group 1 Automotive's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $12.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.36 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Group 1 Automotive's dividend payout ratio is 5.01%.

Group 1 Automotive announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, November 12th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 9.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.