Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday. The company 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on ABG shares. Seaport Research Partners raised shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Asbury Automotive Group from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Citigroup upped their target price on Asbury Automotive Group from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group lowered 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $214.00.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $197.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $201.00. The stock has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.05, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.78. 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 (NYSE:ABG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $6.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.31 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.49 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 25.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Asbury Automotive Group news, SVP Jed Milstein sold 948 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.28, for a total transaction of $237,265.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,259 shares in the company, valued at $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 available through this link. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Asbury Automotive Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Man Group plc bought a new position in Asbury Automotive Group in the second quarter worth $3,208,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group in the second quarter worth about $593,499,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $8,884,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Asbury Automotive Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,100,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 13,382.1% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 21,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,110,000 after acquiring an additional 20,876 shares in the last quarter.

About Asbury Automotive Group

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.