Analysts Set Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) Target Price at $256.20

Shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research 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 $256.20.

ABG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Asbury Automotive Group from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Craig Hallum upped their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Asbury Automotive Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $190.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance

Shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock opened at $261.62 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $231.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.74. Asbury Automotive Group has a 12 month low of $195.09 and a 12 month high of $277.13.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $6.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.58 by ($0.23). Asbury Automotive Group had a net margin of 2.16% and a return on equity of 16.51%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $8.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Asbury Automotive Group will post 25.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 26.4% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 20,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,768,000 after purchasing an additional 4,224 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC grew its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 21,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,961,000 after acquiring an additional 2,198 shares during the last quarter. Natixis bought a new position in Asbury Automotive Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $896,000. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group in the first quarter worth $878,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in Asbury Automotive Group in the first quarter worth about $537,000.

About Asbury Automotive Group

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.