4,737 Shares in Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $GPI Purchased by Jupiter Topco LLC

Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 4,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,380,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the second quarter worth approximately $5,134,000. Palisade Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Group 1 Automotive during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,343,000. Lakewood Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the 2nd quarter valued at $72,098,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the 2nd quarter worth $8,220,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of Group 1 Automotive during the 2nd quarter worth about $57,174,000. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Group 1 Automotive

In other Group 1 Automotive news, major shareholder Conifer Management, L.L.C. acquired 26,561 shares of Group 1 Automotive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $276.03 per share, with a total value of $7,331,632.83. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 1,222,360 shares in the company, valued at $337,408,030.80. This trade represents a 2.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPI has been the subject of several research reports. Seaport Research Partners set a $420.00 target price on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $338.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (down from $400.00) on shares of Group 1 Automotive in a research note on Friday, August 7th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Group 1 Automotive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $392.44.

Group 1 Automotive Stock Up 6.2%

Shares of NYSE GPI opened at $301.91 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $289.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $313.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 1.02. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. has a 52-week low of $249.54 and a 52-week high of $488.39. The stock has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.82.

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $5.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.66 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 15.66%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $10.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. Group 1 Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.