Conifer Management L.L.C. Purchases New Shares in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Conifer Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 967,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $281,561,390,000. Group 1 Automotive accounts for 46.4% of Conifer Management L.L.C.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Conifer Management L.L.C. owned 8.11% of Group 1 Automotive as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 118 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the third quarter worth about $55,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Group 1 Automotive in the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Group 1 Automotive by 78.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on GPI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Group 1 Automotive from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $380.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research cut Group 1 Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Barclays decreased their price target on Group 1 Automotive from $435.00 to $365.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (down from $400.00) on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners set a $420.00 price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Group 1 Automotive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $392.44.

Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

Shares of GPI opened at $259.48 on Tuesday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $296.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $317.45. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a twelve month low of $249.54 and a twelve month high of $488.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 10.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.82.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) 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). 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%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $10.82 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Group 1 Automotive, Inc. will post 38.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Group 1 Automotive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.16%.

Group 1 Automotive Profile

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.