Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG Shares Sold by Channing Capital Management LLC

Channing Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 262,545 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,990 shares during the quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Asbury Automotive Group were worth $57,980,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABG. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 30,639.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 129,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,790,000 after purchasing an additional 128,991 shares during the last quarter. Eminence Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 787,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $191,453,000 after purchasing an additional 107,317 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the first quarter worth $17,922,000. Magnolia Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 50.6% during the first quarter. Magnolia Group LLC now owns 224,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,606,000 after purchasing an additional 75,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voss Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 43.7% during the first quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 169,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,346,000 after purchasing an additional 51,411 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABG has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Cfra set a $225.00 target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Stephens raised shares of Asbury Automotive Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Asbury Automotive Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $254.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Juanita T. James sold 625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.10, for a total value of $152,562.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,673,305.50. The trade was a 8.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance

NYSE:ABG opened at $240.68 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.79, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50-day moving average is $239.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $241.46. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $201.68 and a 1-year high of $312.56.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $7.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.82 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 15.41%. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.40 EPS. Analysts forecast that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 EPS for the current year.

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.