Moody Aldrich Partners LLC Buys 4,025 Shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC lifted its position in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 38.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,416 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,025 shares during the quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC owned about 0.07% of Asbury Automotive Group worth $3,439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 39.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $262,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 14,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,279,000 after purchasing an additional 1,787 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 13.0% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 9,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 2.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 97,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,542,000 after purchasing an additional 2,549 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on ABG shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Stephens raised shares of Asbury Automotive Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Cfra set a $225.00 price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Asbury Automotive Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $249.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Asbury Automotive Group

In other news, Director Juanita T. James sold 625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.10, for a total transaction of $152,562.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,673,305.50. This trade represents a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jed Milstein sold 1,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.26, for a total value of $286,690.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 11,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,853,480.42. This trade represents a 9.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,957 shares of company stock worth $745,501. 0.59% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Up 0.5%

ABG stock opened at $238.51 on Friday. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $201.68 and a fifty-two week high of $312.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.36, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $246.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $238.18.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $7.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.80 by $0.37. Asbury Automotive Group had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.35 earnings per share. Asbury Automotive Group’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 earnings per share for the current 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.