Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) Price Target Cut to $305.00

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) had its price objective trimmed by Bank of America from $310.00 to $305.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on ABG. Morgan Stanley raised Asbury Automotive Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Asbury Automotive Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Asbury Automotive Group from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $216.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $251.20.

Asbury Automotive Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Asbury Automotive Group stock opened at $235.28 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Asbury Automotive Group has a 12 month low of $178.40 and a 12 month high of $277.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $230.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $231.11. The firm has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a PE ratio of 8.57 and a beta of 1.16.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The company reported $6.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.31 by ($0.91). Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 2.51%. The company had revenue of $4.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $8.95 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Asbury Automotive Group will post 26.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Asbury Automotive Group

In related news, major shareholder Impactive Capital Lp sold 8,353 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.63, for a total value of $1,884,687.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,008,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $453,211,473.87. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Asbury Automotive Group news, major shareholder Impactive Capital Lp sold 8,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.63, for a total value of $1,884,687.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,008,649 shares in the company, valued at $453,211,473.87. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Hult sold 500 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 56,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,911,548.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Asbury Automotive Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,319,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,771,000 after buying an additional 10,656 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 147.1% during the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 18,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,063,000 after buying an additional 10,737 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $162,000. BTC Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $238,000. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $319,000.

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.