Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Stock Holdings in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 52,193 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,011 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.27% of Asbury Automotive Group worth $12,136,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 319.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 76.0% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 69.2% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ABG shares. UBS Group started coverage on Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $202.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded Asbury Automotive Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays raised their target price on Asbury Automotive Group from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $242.00 target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Asbury Automotive Group from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $232.00.

Asbury Automotive Group Price Performance

Shares of ABG opened at $187.27 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.63, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $195.82 and a 200-day moving average of $217.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $172.01 and a 52 week high of $274.50.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $5.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.62 by ($0.25). The firm had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.37 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 3.05%.Asbury Automotive Group’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.82 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 25.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Asbury Automotive Group

In other news, Director B. Christopher Disantis bought 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $202.30 per share, for a total transaction of $101,150.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,092,420. The trade was a 10.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Asbury Automotive Group Company Profile

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc (NYSE:ABG) is one of the largest automotive retailers in the United States. Headquartered in Duluth, Georgia, the company operates a network of franchised dealerships representing a diverse portfolio of automotive brands. Its core business activities include the sale of new and pre-owned vehicles, as well as the provision of vehicle finance, insurance and protection products to retail customers.

In addition to retail sales, Asbury offers a comprehensive suite of after-sales services, from scheduled maintenance and certified collision repair to parts distribution.