Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) Major Shareholder Conifer Management, L.L.C. Buys 3,539 Shares of Stock

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) major shareholder Conifer Management, L.L.C. purchased 3,539 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $269.66 per share, for a total transaction of $954,326.74. Following the purchase, the insider owned 1,195,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $322,459,158.34. The trade was a 0.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Conifer Management, L.L.C. also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, September 2nd, Conifer Management, L.L.C. acquired 26,561 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $276.03 per share, with a total value of $7,331,632.83.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 2.9%

GPI traded up $8.01 on Thursday, hitting $284.42. The company had a trading volume of 342,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 187,389. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.82. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $249.54 and a 1 year high of $488.39. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $289.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $313.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $9.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.60 by ($0.99). Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 15.66%. The company had revenue of $5.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $10.82 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.16%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GPI. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Group 1 Automotive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,167,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the fourth quarter worth $98,125,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 1,001.6% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 12,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,026,000 after acquiring an additional 11,619 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 51.6% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 78,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,064,000 after acquiring an additional 26,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Group 1 Automotive in the first quarter valued at $5,049,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on GPI. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $300.00 price target (down from $400.00) on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Group 1 Automotive from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $380.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $338.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners set a $420.00 target price on Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $392.44.

Group 1 Automotive Company Profile

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.