Insider Buying: Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) Major Shareholder Acquires 83,121 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Conifer Management purchased 83,121 Group 1 Automotive shares at an average price of $282.63, investing approximately $23.5 million and increasing its ownership by 6.8% to 1.31 million shares.
• The shareholder also bought additional shares in three other transactions from September 1–4, bringing its recent purchases to roughly 170,000 shares and nearly $49 million in total value.
• Group 1 Automotive’s shares traded at $281.78, while the company’s latest quarterly results missed estimates: earnings per share came in at $9.61 versus $10.60 expected, and revenue declined 5.6% year over year. Analysts’ consensus rating was “Hold,” with a target price of $392.44.

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) major shareholder Conifer Management, L.L.C. purchased 83,121 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $282.63 per share, with a total value of $23,492,488.23. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 1,305,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $368,968,095.03. This trade represents a 6.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company's shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

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

• On Friday, September 4th, Conifer Management, L.L.C. acquired 57,159 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of $300.15 per share, for a total transaction of $17,156,273.85.
• 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.
• On Tuesday, September 1st, Conifer Management, L.L.C. bought 3,539 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock. The shares were acquired at an average price of $269.66 per share, with a total value of $954,326.74.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Performance

GPI traded down $18.98 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $281.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 257,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 189,556. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.74, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $289.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $312.99. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $249.54 and a twelve month high of $488.39.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 15.66%. The business had revenue of $5.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $10.82 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.96 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Group 1 Automotive's payout ratio is presently 9.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on GPI. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Group 1 Automotive from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. DA Davidson set a $425.00 price target on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research downgraded Group 1 Automotive from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective 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. Five equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $392.44.

Institutional Trading of Group 1 Automotive

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Group 1 Automotive by 444.7% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 256 shares of the company's stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Group 1 Automotive during the second quarter valued at approximately $190,000. Corient Private Wealth LP boosted its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 6.2% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 702 shares of the company's stock valued at $204,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $221,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 25,782.6% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,867,902 shares of the company's stock worth $1,126,217,000 after buying an additional 3,852,958 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company's stock.

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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