Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) Hits New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday. The stock traded as low as $164.29 and last traded at $164.6810, with a volume of 149,967 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $167.60.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ABG shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Asbury Automotive Group from $250.00 to $193.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Seaport Research Partners upgraded 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 report on Tuesday, September 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $230.00 to $184.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $214.00.

Asbury Automotive Group Trading Down 1.5%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $200.28 and a 200-day moving average of $201.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.78.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $6.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.31 by $0.51. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 25.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jed Milstein sold 948 shares of the firm’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 value of $237,265.44. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,817,902.52. This trade 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 hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Asbury Automotive Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $593,499,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,156,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,977,000 after acquiring an additional 34,104 shares during the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the second quarter valued at about $60,592,000. Magnolia Group LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 8,731 shares during the period. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 10,892 shares during the period.

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.