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

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $256.20.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ABG. Craig Hallum lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Asbury Automotive Group from $310.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Asbury Automotive Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 69,975 shares in the last quarter. Eminence Capital LP increased its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 41.5% in the 2nd quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 498,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,603,000 after acquiring an additional 146,246 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 4.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 197,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,065,000 after purchasing an additional 7,754 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $45,233,000 after acquiring an additional 148,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,573,000.

Asbury Automotive Group Price Performance

Shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock opened at $261.62 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81 and a beta of 1.16. Asbury Automotive Group has a one year low of $195.09 and a one year high of $277.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $231.86 and its 200 day moving average is $233.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 1.20.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $6.35 earnings per share 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.12 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Asbury Automotive Group will post 25.37 earnings per share 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.