State Street Corp Purchases 10,969 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

State Street Corp lifted its position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 541,766 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 10,969 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned about 4.07% of Group 1 Automotive worth $207,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 639,142 shares of the company's stock valued at $190,004,000 after acquiring an additional 115,143 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 133.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 407,930 shares of the company's stock valued at $156,253,000 after purchasing an additional 232,846 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 152,923 shares of the company's stock worth $58,576,000 after purchasing an additional 1,735 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its position in Group 1 Automotive by 18.1% during the second quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 108,500 shares of the company's stock worth $32,255,000 after buying an additional 16,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shellback Capital LP raised its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 27.1% in the second quarter. Shellback Capital LP now owns 95,302 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,331,000 after buying an additional 20,302 shares during the period. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $430.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday. They set a "buy" rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $437.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 completion of the sale, 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 company insiders.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of GPI stock traded down $2.78 on Friday, hitting $422.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 38,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 133,875. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $255.73 and a fifty-two week high of $440.32. The company has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a PE ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 1.35. The stock's 50 day moving average is $391.31 and its 200-day moving average is $353.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $9.87 by $0.03. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 2.68% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The firm had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $12.07 EPS. The business's revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Group 1 Automotive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.01%.

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

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.