Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $214.00

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $214.00.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Asbury Automotive Group from $230.00 to $184.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Asbury Automotive Group from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays reiterated a “reduce” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Tuesday, October 6th.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance

NYSE:ABG opened at $169.53 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $195.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $200.56. Asbury Automotive Group has a fifty-two week low of $160.30 and a fifty-two week high of $258.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 6.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.49 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Asbury Automotive Group will post 25.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jed Milstein sold 948 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.28, for a total transaction of $237,265.44. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,817,902.52. This represents a 7.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cim Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 7.3% during the second quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC increased its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 20.2% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 642 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 263.3% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 3.0% in the first quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 4,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $871,000 after buying an additional 130 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.