Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) Receives $254.00 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $254.00.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ABG shares. Stephens raised Asbury Automotive Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 10th.

Asbury Automotive Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABG opened at $224.83 on Tuesday. Asbury Automotive Group has a fifty-two week low of $201.68 and a fifty-two week high of $312.56. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $236.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $238.86. The company has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $7.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.80 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.84 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 15.26% and a net margin of 3.15%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.35 EPS. Analysts expect that Asbury Automotive Group will post 26.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Asbury Automotive Group news, Director Maureen F. Morrison sold 800 shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.61, for a total value of $204,488.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,488,672.64. This trade represents a 12.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Asbury Automotive Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Abrams Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 2.2% in the third quarter. Abrams Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,155,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $526,910,000 after acquiring an additional 46,952 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,104,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,906,000 after purchasing an additional 5,757 shares during the period. Eminence Capital LP grew its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 36.0% in the 2nd quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 1,002,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,055,000 after purchasing an additional 265,539 shares during the period. Timucuan Asset Management Inc. FL raised its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Timucuan Asset Management Inc. FL now owns 724,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,723,000 after buying an additional 10,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 472,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,717,000 after buying an additional 3,437 shares during the last quarter.

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.