Woodson Capital Management LP Has $29.49 Million Holdings in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI)

Woodson Capital Management LP lessened its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) by 43.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 77,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 59,000 shares during the quarter. Group 1 Automotive makes up approximately 5.8% of Woodson Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Woodson Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.58% of Group 1 Automotive worth $29,494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 22.0% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 639,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,004,000 after purchasing an additional 115,143 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 133.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 407,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,253,000 after acquiring an additional 232,846 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 152,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,576,000 after purchasing an additional 1,735 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 18.1% during the second quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 108,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,255,000 after purchasing an additional 16,600 shares during the period. Finally, Shellback Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 27.1% during the 2nd quarter. Shellback Capital LP now owns 95,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,331,000 after purchasing an additional 20,302 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Group 1 Automotive news, VP Edward Mckissic sold 79 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.01, for a total transaction of $29,546.79. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,340,928.59. The trade was a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens initiated coverage on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $394.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Group 1 Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock 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. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $425.20.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Down 1.0 %

Group 1 Automotive stock opened at $427.76 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $381.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $345.90. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1-year low of $255.73 and a 1-year high of $440.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $9.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.87 by $0.03. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 2.68%. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $12.07 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.38 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Group 1 Automotive’s payout ratio is currently 5.01%.

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.