Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG Shares Newly Acquired by Cooke & Bieler LP

Cooke & Bieler LP acquired a new position in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 378,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,167,000. Cooke & Bieler LP owned 2.11% of Asbury Automotive Group as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ABG. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 110.8% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the third quarter worth $32,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 335.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 42,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,335,000 after acquiring an additional 32,795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 20.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 642 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter.

Asbury Automotive Group Price Performance

Shares of ABG stock opened at $163.80 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $192.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $199.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.30 and a 12 month high of $258.74. The company has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.78.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $6.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $7.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 25.64 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Seaport Research Partners upgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 16th. Citigroup raised 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $230.00 to $184.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $250.00 to $193.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Asbury Automotive Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $214.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jed Milstein sold 948 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.28, for a total transaction of $237,265.44. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,817,902.52. This represents a 7.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Asbury Automotive Group Profile

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc is a U.S.-based automotive retailer that operates franchised and independent dealerships. Its dealerships sell new and used vehicles from a range of domestic, import and luxury automobile brands, and provide related services throughout the vehicle ownership cycle.

The company’s operations include automotive repair and maintenance, parts and accessories, collision repair, vehicle financing and insurance products, and other dealership services. Asbury also supports vehicle sales and service through digital retailing and online customer tools.

Founded in 1995, Asbury has expanded through acquisitions and serves customers across multiple markets in the United States.