Madison Asset Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG

Madison Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 374,577 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,942 shares during the quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC owned approximately 1.93% of Asbury Automotive Group worth $91,565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Versor Investments LP increased its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 6.9% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 1,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $209,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 466.7% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 442 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ABG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Asbury Automotive Group from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Barclays dropped their price target on Asbury Automotive Group from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “reduce” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price objective on Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $247.57.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:ABG opened at $228.77 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50 day moving average of $239.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $238.91. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $201.68 and a 52-week high of $306.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $6.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.70 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $4.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.93 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 2.73%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Asbury Automotive Group

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.