Conifer Management L.L.C. Invests $281.56 Million in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI

Conifer Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 967,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $281,561,390. Group 1 Automotive makes up about 0.0% of Conifer Management L.L.C.’s 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.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPI. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 40.5% in 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 period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 3rd quarter worth about $55,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 78.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 191 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in 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 research firms have weighed in on GPI. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $420.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Group 1 Automotive from $338.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. DA Davidson set a $425.00 target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Seaport Research Partners set a $420.00 target price on Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Group 1 Automotive from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $392.44.

Group 1 Automotive Trading Up 1.7%

GPI stock traded up $4.38 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $266.42. 121,764 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 185,423. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $293.45 and a 200-day moving average of $315.64. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 52-week low of $249.54 and a 52-week high of $488.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.82.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $9.61 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $10.82 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side 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 will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.