Conifer Management, L.L.C. Buys 26,561 Shares of Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) Stock

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) major shareholder Conifer Management, L.L.C. bought 26,561 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $276.03 per share, with a total value of $7,331,632.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,222,360 shares in the company, valued at $337,408,030.80. This represents a 2.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

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

• On Tuesday, September 1st, Conifer Management, L.L.C. purchased 3,539 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $269.66 per share, for a total transaction of $954,326.74.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSE GPI traded up $8.01 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $284.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 342,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 187,389. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $289.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $313.76. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $249.54 and a 1 year high of $488.39.

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

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

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 paid 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 (DPR) is presently 9.16%.

Institutional Trading of Group 1 Automotive

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GPI. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 366,770.5% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 25,431,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,002,195,000 after buying an additional 25,424,532 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 25,782.6% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,867,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,126,217,000 after acquiring an additional 3,852,958 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Group 1 Automotive in the second quarter valued at $593,420,000. Conifer Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the second quarter worth about $281,561,390. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 1.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 688,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,612,000 after purchasing an additional 10,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $435.00 to $365.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Group 1 Automotive from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. DA Davidson set a $425.00 target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Group 1 Automotive from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $380.00 to $320.00 in a report on Friday, July 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $392.44.

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.