Ironwood Investment Management LLC Has $7.16 Million Position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Ironwood Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,977 shares of the company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Group 1 Automotive accounts for 3.6% of Ironwood Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Ironwood Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Group 1 Automotive worth $7,155,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 51.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 82 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 4th quarter valued at about $66,000. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lincoln Pereira sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $426.68, for a total value of $2,560,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 98,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,013,899.56. This represents a 5.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on GPI shares. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $495.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $460.33.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

Shares of GPI opened at $387.26 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $449.57 and its 200-day moving average is $410.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a PE ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 1.33. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $262.00 and a fifty-two week high of $490.09.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $10.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.77 by $1.25. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 18.09%. Equities analysts forecast that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 41 EPS for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Group 1 Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.44%.

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.