Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) Short Interest Down 12.4% in February

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,200,000 shares, a decline of 12.4% from the January 31st total of 1,370,000 shares. Currently, 9.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 133,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Group 1 Automotive news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.68, for a total transaction of $2,560,080.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 98,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,013,899.56. This represents a 5.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Group 1 Automotive

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,996 shares of the company's stock valued at $765,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 699.4% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,431 shares of the company's stock worth $548,000 after buying an additional 1,252 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Forum Financial Management LP bought a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the 3rd quarter valued at $229,000. Finally, Olympiad Research LP bought a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the 3rd quarter valued at $329,000. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GPI shares. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $460.00 price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $500.00 target price for the company. 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, Group 1 Automotive has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $460.33.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

GPI traded down $8.61 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $432.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 254,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 128,385. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Group 1 Automotive has a twelve month low of $260.00 and a twelve month high of $490.09. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $449.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $409.61. The stock has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 1.33.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $10.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.77 by $1.25. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 18.09%. Research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive will post 41 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, November 12th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 9.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. This is an increase from Group 1 Automotive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Group 1 Automotive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.44%.

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.