Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) Reaches New 1-Year Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $250.00 to $193.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Asbury Automotive Group traded as low as $167.30 and last traded at $172.0660, with a volume of 301433 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $175.88.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $230.00 to $184.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Seaport Research Partners raised shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays reissued a “reduce” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $214.00.

Insider Activity at Asbury Automotive Group

In other news, SVP Jed Milstein sold 948 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.28, for a total value of $237,265.44. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,259 shares in the company, valued at $2,817,902.52. This trade represents a 7.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Asbury Automotive Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Man Group plc purchased a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group during the 2nd quarter worth $3,208,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $593,499,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Asbury Automotive Group in the second quarter valued at about $8,884,000. Fieldview Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Asbury Automotive Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,336,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the second quarter worth about $2,100,000.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $202.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $201.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.26, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.78.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $6.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.31 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.49 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 2.83%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $7.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.12 EPS for the current year.

Asbury Automotive Group Company Profile

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc is a U.S.-based automotive retailer that operates franchised dealerships representing a range of domestic and international vehicle manufacturers. The company sells new and used cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles, and provides related financing and insurance products.

In addition to vehicle sales, Asbury’s dealerships offer automotive maintenance and repair, replacement parts, collision repair and other after-sales services. The company also operates Clicklane, a digital retail platform designed to support online vehicle purchasing, financing and trade-ins.

Headquartered in Duluth, Georgia, Asbury serves customers through dealership locations across multiple U.S.