Versor Investments LP Takes Position in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG

Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $445,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the first quarter valued at about $49,000. eCIO Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the first quarter worth about $56,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 7.5% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 858 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the first quarter worth about $197,000. Finally, Koss Olinger Consulting LLC purchased a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the first quarter worth about $201,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $249.67.

Insider Transactions at Asbury Automotive Group

In other news, SVP Dean Calloway sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.40, for a total transaction of $101,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 5,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,347,048. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Juanita T. James sold 625 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.10, for a total value of $152,562.50. Following the sale, 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 2,957 shares of company stock worth $745,501 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of ABG opened at $230.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $245.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $238.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $201.68 and a 1 year high of $312.56.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $7.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.80 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.84 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 15.26% and a net margin of 3.15%.Asbury Automotive Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.35 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Asbury Automotive Group Profile

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.