SG Americas Securities LLC Has $174,000 Stock Holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

SG Americas Securities LLC decreased its stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 44.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 414 shares of the company’s stock after selling 327 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $174,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 51.9% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 82 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 264 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 121 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased 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 worth $765,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 2,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $852,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

GPI stock opened at $470.28 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $434.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $393.34. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $258.77 and a 1 year high of $489.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The company has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 1.36.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $10.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.77 by $1.25. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 2.47%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 40.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is 5.12%.

Group 1 Automotive announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, November 12th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 9.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on GPI. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $460.00 target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $425.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $447.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.68, for a total value of $2,560,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 98,467 shares in the company, valued at $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 available through this hyperlink. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company 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.