Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) Upgraded to “Equal Weight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $240.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $190.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Stephens assumed coverage on Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an equal weight rating and a $216.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut Asbury Automotive Group from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $237.75.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE ABG opened at $244.35 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $235.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $230.21. The company has a market capitalization of $4.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.90 and a beta of 1.16. Asbury Automotive Group has a 1 year low of $178.40 and a 1 year high of $277.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The company reported $6.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.31 by ($0.91). Asbury Automotive Group had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 17.93%. The business had revenue of $4.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Asbury Automotive Group will post 26.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Asbury Automotive Group news, CEO David W. Hult sold 500 shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.18, for a total value of $113,590.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,834 shares in the company, valued at $12,911,548.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO David W. Hult sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.18, for a total transaction of $113,590.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 56,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,911,548.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Impactive Capital Lp sold 8,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.63, for a total value of $1,884,687.39. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,008,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $453,211,473.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Asbury Automotive Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,319,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,771,000 after buying an additional 10,656 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,056,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,818,000 after purchasing an additional 69,975 shares during the period. Eminence Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 41.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC now owns 278,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,624,000 after buying an additional 3,101 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 199,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,846,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the period.

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.