Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) Shares Bought by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Free Report) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 152,923 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,735 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.15% of Group 1 Automotive worth $58,576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GPI. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the 1st quarter worth about $204,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 5.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,460 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,765,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 2.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,646 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,109,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 73.5% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 1,492 shares of the company's stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional increased its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 3.2% during the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 9,956 shares of the company's stock worth $2,960,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $430.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Stephens assumed coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $394.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $425.20.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Group 1 Automotive stock traded down $1.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $425.80. The stock had a trading volume of 47,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 135,290. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $382.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $346.69. The firm has a market cap of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.35 and a beta of 1.33. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $255.73 and a 12-month high of $440.32.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $12.07 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Group 1 Automotive's payout ratio is currently 5.01%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Group 1 Automotive news, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total transaction of $29,546.79. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,259 shares in the company, valued at $2,340,928.59. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.