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

Shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $256.20.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ABG. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective 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. Bank of America lowered their price target on Asbury Automotive Group from $310.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Asbury Automotive Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley raised Asbury Automotive Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $190.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $216.00 target price on the stock.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Down 2.6 %

Asbury Automotive Group stock opened at $258.74 on Friday. Asbury Automotive Group has a 12 month low of $195.09 and a 12 month high of $277.13. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $231.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.52. 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 firm has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 1.16.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $6.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.58 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 16.51% and a net margin of 2.16%. Asbury Automotive Group’s quarterly revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $8.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Asbury Automotive Group will post 25.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Asbury Automotive Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABG. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 366.1% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 189,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,233,000 after purchasing an additional 148,910 shares in the last quarter. Eminence Capital LP boosted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 41.5% in 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. Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group in the 3rd quarter worth $26,573,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 7.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,056,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,818,000 after acquiring an additional 69,975 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the third quarter valued at about $154,270,000.

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.