BNP Paribas Financial Markets Has $3.23 Million Stake in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets reduced its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,534 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,514 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Asbury Automotive Group were worth $3,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,056,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,818,000 after purchasing an additional 69,975 shares during the period. Eminence Capital LP grew its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 498,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,603,000 after buying an additional 146,246 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 197,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,065,000 after acquiring an additional 7,754 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 366.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 189,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,233,000 after acquiring an additional 148,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Asbury Automotive Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,573,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Asbury Automotive Group from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Asbury Automotive Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $216.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $190.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $256.20.

Asbury Automotive Group Price Performance

Shares of ABG opened at $259.16 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $243.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.56. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $195.09 and a 1-year high of $277.13. The company has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 1.18.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $6.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.58 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a net margin of 2.16% and a return on equity of 16.51%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Asbury Automotive Group Company Profile

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an automotive retailer in the United States. It offers a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; and vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services.