Hantz Financial Services Inc. Acquires 2,174 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 3,563.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,235 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,174 shares during the quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Group 1 Automotive were worth $978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of GPI. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. MAI Capital Management lifted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 131.3% in the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 74 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the second quarter worth about $43,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 25.8% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 122 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 21.9% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 301 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $460.00 price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Group 1 Automotive from $435.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays set a $470.00 target price on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Monday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Group 1 Automotive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $472.29.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 1.9%

GPI opened at $347.07 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.88 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12 month low of $338.68 and a 12 month high of $490.09. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $395.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $418.77.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $8.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.36 by ($0.87). The firm had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $10.02 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is 8.00%.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 11th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 10.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Group 1 Automotive

Group 1 Automotive, Inc (NYSE: GPI) is an international automotive retailer headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company operates an extensive network of franchised dealerships, offering new and pre-owned vehicles from leading domestic and import manufacturers. In addition to vehicle sales, Group 1 Automotive provides a full complement of aftersales services, including finance and insurance products, parts distribution, collision repair centers and vehicle maintenance.

Founded in 1997, Group 1 Automotive has grown through both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to establish a presence across the United States, the United Kingdom and Brazil.