Amalgamated Bank Decreases Holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Amalgamated Bank decreased its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,863 shares of the company’s stock after selling 169 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $1,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 53.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 146 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 47.5% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 270 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 267 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of GPI opened at $405.88 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $368.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $336.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $5.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.33. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $255.73 and a fifty-two week high of $417.98.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.87 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $12.07 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.6 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase 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 usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is 5.01%.

Insider Transactions at Group 1 Automotive

In other news, VP Michael David Jones sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.99, for a total transaction of $421,188.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,742 shares in the company, valued at $3,419,344.58. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Michael David Jones sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.99, for a total transaction of $421,188.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,742 shares in the company, valued at $3,419,344.58. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,340,928.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America reduced their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Stephens initiated coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $394.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $285.00 to $430.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.80.

Group 1 Automotive Company 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.