Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $251.20.

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $310.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Asbury Automotive Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $216.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Activity at Asbury Automotive Group

In other news, CEO David W. Hult sold 500 shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.18, for a total transaction of $113,590.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 56,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,911,548.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Asbury Automotive Group news, major shareholder Impactive Capital Lp sold 8,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.63, for a total value of $1,884,687.39. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,008,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $453,211,473.87. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Hult sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.18, for a total transaction of $113,590.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,911,548.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Asbury Automotive Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Eminence Capital LP raised its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 41.5% in the second quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 498,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,603,000 after purchasing an additional 146,246 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 69,975 shares during the last quarter. Khrom Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Asbury Automotive Group in the 2nd quarter worth $14,572,000. GCM Grosvenor Holdings LLC lifted its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 250.8% during the 2nd quarter. GCM Grosvenor Holdings LLC now owns 73,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,635,000 after acquiring an additional 52,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE boosted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 107.7% during the second quarter. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE now owns 47,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,811,000 after acquiring an additional 24,603 shares during the period.

Asbury Automotive Group Price Performance

NYSE ABG opened at $234.65 on Monday. Asbury Automotive Group has a 12 month low of $178.40 and a 12 month high of $277.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a PE ratio of 8.55 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $230.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $231.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The company reported $6.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.31 by ($0.91). The firm had revenue of $4.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 17.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Asbury Automotive Group will post 26.01 EPS 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.