Insider Buying: Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) Major Shareholder Acquires $8,370,174.89 in Stock

Key Points

• Conifer Management purchased 34,529 GPI shares for approximately $8.37 million at an average price of $242.41, increasing its ownership by 1.76% to nearly 2 million shares. The shareholder has made several additional purchases in recent months.
• Group 1 Automotive shares traded around $244.25, near the lower end of their 52-week range, while the company’s latest quarterly results missed analyst expectations for both earnings and revenue.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.55, equivalent to a 0.9% yield. Analysts’ consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $341.67.

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) major shareholder Conifer Management, L.L.C. bought 34,529 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $242.41 per share, with a total value of $8,370,174.89. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 1,991,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $482,836,843.79. This represents a 1.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company's shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

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

• On Monday, October 26th, Conifer Management, L.L.C. purchased 20,471 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $246.14 per share, for a total transaction of $5,038,731.94.
• On Thursday, October 22nd, Conifer Management, L.L.C. acquired 45,000 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of $240.52 per share, with a total value of $10,823,400.00.
• On Monday, September 28th, Conifer Management, L.L.C. acquired 133,472 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of $243.58 per share, with a total value of $32,511,109.76.
• On Wednesday, September 30th, Conifer Management, L.L.C. bought 71,592 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $242.03 per share, for a total transaction of $17,327,411.76.
• On Tuesday, September 29th, Conifer Management, L.L.C. bought 68,648 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock. The shares were bought at an average price of $239.48 per share, for a total transaction of $16,439,823.04.
• On Friday, September 25th, Conifer Management, L.L.C. purchased 50,532 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock. The stock was bought at an average price of $252.06 per share, with a total value of $12,737,095.92.
• On Thursday, September 24th, Conifer Management, L.L.C. purchased 75,756 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $248.00 per share, with a total value of $18,787,488.00.
• On Friday, September 18th, Conifer Management, L.L.C. purchased 37,650 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $249.88 per share, with a total value of $9,407,982.00.
• On Thursday, September 17th, Conifer Management, L.L.C. acquired 28,000 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock. The shares were bought at an average price of $266.06 per share, for a total transaction of $7,449,680.00.
• On Thursday, September 10th, Conifer Management, L.L.C. acquired 36,647 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $280.86 per share, for a total transaction of $10,292,676.42.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:GPI traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $244.25. The company had a trading volume of 235,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 262,904. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50-day moving average of $254.89 and a 200 day moving average of $310.29. The company has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.92. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $224.65 and a 1 year high of $429.00.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $9.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $10.60 by ($0.99). Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 15.66% and a net margin of 1.31%. The company had revenue of $5.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.66 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $10.82 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 37.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st were issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Group 1 Automotive's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $387.00 to $357.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Seaport Research Partners set a $420.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Evercore set a $360.00 price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $330.00 to $271.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $341.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GPI. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the second quarter worth about $593,420,000. Conifer Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the second quarter valued at about $281,561,390. 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 valued at $227,612,000 after acquiring an additional 10,100 shares during the last quarter. Lakewood Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $72,098,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $57,174,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.92% of the company's stock.

Group 1 Automotive Company Profile

Group 1 Automotive, Inc is an international automotive retailer headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company operates dealerships that sell new and used automobiles and light trucks from a broad range of manufacturers.

In addition to vehicle sales, Group 1 Automotive provides automotive financing and insurance products, vehicle maintenance and repair, collision services, replacement parts, and other related services. Its dealerships also market vehicles through digital retailing platforms.

Founded in 1997, Group 1 Automotive serves customers through a network of dealerships and automotive service locations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Brazil.

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