Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) Short Interest Down 5.7% in December

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,650,000 shares, a decline of 5.7% from the December 15th total of 1,750,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 125,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 13.1 days. Currently, 12.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Group 1 Automotive news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 98,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,013,899.56. This trade represents a 5.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,340,928.59. This trade represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Group 1 Automotive

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 133.0% during the third 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. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 22.0% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 639,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,004,000 after purchasing an additional 115,143 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 596.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 76,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,259,000 after purchasing an additional 65,414 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 3,663.1% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 55,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,174,000 after purchasing an additional 53,811 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 244.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 56,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,573,000 after purchasing an additional 39,982 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:GPI opened at $447.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 1.36. Group 1 Automotive has a twelve month low of $255.73 and a twelve month high of $449.58. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $422.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $376.26. 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 (NYSE:GPI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $12.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive will post 38.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 9.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GPI shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $285.00 to $430.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Guggenheim increased their price target 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. decreased their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $425.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Group 1 Automotive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $436.83.

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.