New York State Common Retirement Fund Buys 4,384 Shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG

New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 6.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 70,521 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,384 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Asbury Automotive Group were worth $16,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 4,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $900,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 1.7% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $782,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 7.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 1.2% during the second quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 5,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,378,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 64.8% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 206 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Monday. Bank of America reduced their target price on Asbury Automotive Group from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Stephens raised Asbury Automotive Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $254.00.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance

NYSE ABG opened at $230.10 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $235.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $238.80. The stock has a market cap of $4.47 billion, a PE ratio of 8.07, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.99. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $201.68 and a fifty-two week high of $312.56.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $7.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.80 by $0.37. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 15.26% and a net margin of 3.15%.The company had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.35 EPS. Asbury Automotive Group’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.