Inspire Investing LLC Has $3.06 Million Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 30.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,772 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Group 1 Automotive worth $3,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPI. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 54.9% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 79 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 881.8% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 108 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 118 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter worth approximately $55,000. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GPI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $385.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Bank of America began coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Benchmark upgraded Group 1 Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. UBS Group began coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $338.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $441.25.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

GPI opened at $305.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $292.44 and a 1 year high of $488.39. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $330.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $352.15.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.82 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $5.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.46% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $10.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 42.37 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is currently 8.40%.

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.