Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) Sets New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG – Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $190.00 to $185.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Asbury Automotive Group traded as low as $167.30 and last traded at $172.0660, with a volume of 301433 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $175.88.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group set a $250.00 target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Friday, July 24th. Seaport Research Partners raised Asbury Automotive Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Barclays restated a “reduce” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Asbury Automotive Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $223.50.

Get Our Latest Research Report on Asbury Automotive Group

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Asbury Automotive Group news, SVP Jed Milstein sold 948 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.28, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 7.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Asbury Automotive Group News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Asbury Automotive Group this week:

Institutional Trading of Asbury Automotive Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $593,499,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,156,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,977,000 after buying an additional 34,104 shares in the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Asbury Automotive Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $60,592,000. Magnolia Group LLC boosted its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Magnolia Group LLC now owns 288,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,279,000 after buying an additional 8,731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 211,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,076,000 after acquiring an additional 10,892 shares in the last quarter.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Down 1.4%

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $204.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $201.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.78.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $6.82 EPS 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 company’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.44 earnings per share for the current year.

About Asbury Automotive Group

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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