Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Purchases 65,414 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 596.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 76,384 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,414 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.57% of Group 1 Automotive worth $29,259,000 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. boosted its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 51.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 82 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $285.00 to $430.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Stephens started coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $394.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.80.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPI opened at $401.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.24. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1-year low of $255.73 and a 1-year high of $422.28. The company has a market capitalization of $5.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $373.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $340.54.

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. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $12.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is currently 5.01%.

Group 1 Automotive announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, November 12th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 9.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total transaction of $29,546.79. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,340,928.59. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

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.