Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) Price Target Cut to $184.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) had its target price trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $184.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group set a $250.00 price target on Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $220.00 to $190.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Seaport Research Partners raised shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.17.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance

Shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock opened at $172.07 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $205.88 and its 200-day moving average is $201.97. Asbury Automotive Group has a one year low of $167.30 and a one year high of $258.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

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 company had revenue of $4.38 billion during 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%.Asbury Automotive Group’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Asbury Automotive Group will post 26.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Asbury Automotive Group

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 value of $237,265.44. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 11,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,817,902.52. This represents a 7.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Asbury Automotive Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $593,499,000. Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the second quarter valued at $60,592,000. Lakewood Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the second quarter valued at $35,919,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the second quarter valued at about $27,142,000. Finally, Robotti Robert bought a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the second quarter valued at about $17,537,000.

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.