Insider Buying: Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) Major Shareholder Acquires $9,407,982.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Conifer Management bought 37,650 Group 1 Automotive shares for approximately $9.4 million, increasing its stake by 2.55% to 1.51 million shares. The purchase was part of a series of insider acquisitions in September.
• Group 1 Automotive shares rose to $251.50 but remained well below their 52-week high of $461.27. The company recently missed quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, with revenue declining 5.6% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with five Buy, three Hold, and two Sell ratings; the average price target is $373.38. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share, yielding about 0.9%.

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) major shareholder Conifer Management, L.L.C. purchased 37,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $249.88 per share, with a total value of $9,407,982.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,512,290 shares in the company, valued at $377,891,025.20. This represents a 2.55% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own 10% or more 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 Thursday, September 17th, Conifer Management, L.L.C. acquired 28,000 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock. The stock was acquired 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 stock was acquired at an average cost of $280.86 per share, with a total value of $10,292,676.42.
• On Wednesday, September 9th, Conifer Management, L.L.C. bought 47,353 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock. The shares were acquired at an average price of $282.48 per share, with a total value of $13,376,275.44.
• On Friday, September 4th, Conifer Management, L.L.C. purchased 57,159 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $300.15 per share, for a total transaction of $17,156,273.85.
• On Thursday, September 3rd, Conifer Management, L.L.C. purchased 83,121 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of $282.63 per share, with a total value of $23,492,488.23.
• On Wednesday, September 2nd, Conifer Management, L.L.C. purchased 26,561 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of $276.03 per share, with a total value of $7,331,632.83.
• On Tuesday, September 1st, Conifer Management, L.L.C. acquired 3,539 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $269.66 per share, with a total value of $954,326.74.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

Shares of Group 1 Automotive stock traded up $5.08 on Monday, hitting $251.50. 213,995 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 192,518. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 52 week low of $246.21 and a 52 week high of $461.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $285.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $309.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.82.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $5.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.66 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 15.66%. The business's revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $10.82 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Group 1 Automotive

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GPI. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Group 1 Automotive by 112.0% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 212 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 352.3% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 2,786 shares of the company's stock worth $811,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 81.4% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 26,173 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,621,000 after buying an additional 11,748 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GPI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Group 1 Automotive from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $380.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Group 1 Automotive from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Seaport Research Partners set a $420.00 price objective on Group 1 Automotive in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Evercore set a $360.00 target price on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a report on Friday, July 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $373.38.

Group 1 Automotive Company Profile

Group 1 Automotive, Inc is an international automotive retailer that operates franchised dealerships in the United States and the United Kingdom. The company sells new and used vehicles from a broad range of manufacturers, including domestic, Asian and European brands.

In addition to vehicle sales, Group 1 Automotive provides automotive maintenance and repair services, sells replacement parts and accessories, and offers financing, insurance and other related products. Its dealerships also support customers through collision-repair operations and online vehicle purchasing tools.

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Houston, Texas, Group 1 Automotive has expanded through dealership acquisitions and organic growth.

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