Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $263.50.

ABG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $290.00 to $250.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $236.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th.

Institutional Trading of Asbury Automotive Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ABG. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 8,381 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,037,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 94,995 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,087,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 54.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,979 shares of the company's stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,408 shares of the company's stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 66,645 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,197,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the period.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance

Shares of ABG opened at $237.63 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $228.26 and its 200-day moving average is $245.21. Asbury Automotive Group has a 12 month low of $201.68 and a 12 month high of $312.56. The firm has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $6.82 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.84 by ($0.02). Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 15.41% and a net margin of 2.42%. The business had revenue of $4.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.21 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Asbury Automotive Group will post 26.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Asbury Automotive Group Company Profile

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an automotive retailer in the United States. It offers a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; and vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services.

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