Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) Stock Has Average Target Price of $214.00 According to Brokerages

Shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the nine brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $214.00.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ABG shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on Asbury Automotive Group from $250.00 to $193.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Seaport Research Partners raised Asbury Automotive Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Barclays reaffirmed a “reduce” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Asbury Automotive Group from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Up 0.0%

ABG stock opened at $167.68 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $200.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $201.39. Asbury Automotive Group has a 52 week low of $164.34 and a 52 week high of $258.74. The company has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.78.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last issued 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. Asbury Automotive Group had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The company had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.43 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Asbury Automotive Group will post 25.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Asbury Automotive Group

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Asbury Automotive Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $593,499,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 3.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,156,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,977,000 after purchasing an additional 34,104 shares in the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the second quarter valued at about $60,592,000. Magnolia Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 3.1% in the first quarter. Magnolia Group LLC now owns 288,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,279,000 after purchasing an additional 8,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 211,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,076,000 after purchasing an additional 10,892 shares during the last quarter.

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.