Engineers Gate Manager LP Buys 11,748 Shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Key Points

• Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its Group 1 Automotive stake by 81.4% in the second quarter, buying 11,748 shares to own 26,173 shares valued at approximately $7.6 million. Institutional investors collectively hold 99.92% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with five Buy, three Hold, and two Sell ratings; the consensus is Hold with an average price target of $373.38. Group 1 Automotive recently reported quarterly earnings and revenue below expectations.
• GPI shares opened at $282.04, down 2.0%, and remain well below their 12-month high of $488.39. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share, representing a 0.8% annualized yield.

Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its stake in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Free Report) by 81.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,173 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,748 shares during the quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP owned about 0.22% of Group 1 Automotive worth $7,621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 3.0% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,766 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,966,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 20.3% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 37,028 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,143,000 after acquiring an additional 6,239 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the first quarter valued at approximately $229,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 41,872 shares of the company's stock worth $15,993,000 after acquiring an additional 2,452 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 46.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,753 shares of the company's stock worth $1,202,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Group 1 Automotive news, major shareholder Conifer Management, L.L.C. bought 57,159 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $300.15 per share, with a total value of $17,156,273.85. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 1,362,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $408,996,396. This trade represents a 4.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 170,380 shares of company stock valued at $48,934,722. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GPI. Zacks Research cut shares of Group 1 Automotive from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. DA Davidson set a $425.00 target price on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings cut Group 1 Automotive from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $338.00 to $330.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $373.38.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of GPI stock opened at $282.04 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $289.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $311.88. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 12-month low of $249.54 and a 12-month high of $488.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.82.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $9.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $10.60 by ($0.99). The firm had revenue of $5.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.66 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 15.66%. Group 1 Automotive's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $10.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Group 1 Automotive's payout ratio is presently 9.16%.

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.

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