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

Key Points

• Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from analysts, with seven analysts covering the stock, resulting in one sell, four hold, and two buy ratings.
• The average twelve-month price target among brokers is $254.00, reflecting a mixed outlook on the company’s future performance.
• The company reported an EPS of $7.43 for the last quarter, beating estimates but falling short of its revenue expectations with $4.37 billion in revenue.

Shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $254.00.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ABG shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Stephens upgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Cfra set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Tuesday, July 29th.

Asbury Automotive Group Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock traded down $1.93 during trading on Thursday, hitting $257.07. The stock had a trading volume of 185,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 140,807. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $243.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $237.69. The stock has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of 9.39, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Asbury Automotive Group has a 12 month low of $201.68 and a 12 month high of $312.56.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $7.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.82 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $4.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 15.41%. The business's revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Asbury Automotive Group will post 26.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Asbury Automotive Group

In related news, SVP Dean Calloway sold 400 shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.40, for a total transaction of $101,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 5,295 shares in the company, valued at $1,347,048. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Maureen F. Morrison sold 800 shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.61, for a total transaction of $204,488.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,488,672.64. The trade was a 12.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,957 shares of company stock worth $745,501. Corporate insiders own 0.59% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eminence Capital LP increased its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 36.0% during the 2nd quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 1,002,160 shares of the company's stock valued at $239,055,000 after purchasing an additional 265,539 shares during the period. Timucuan Asset Management Inc. FL increased its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Timucuan Asset Management Inc. FL now owns 724,082 shares of the company's stock valued at $172,723,000 after purchasing an additional 10,924 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 472,476 shares of the company's stock valued at $112,717,000 after purchasing an additional 3,437 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC increased its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 373,320 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,444,000 after purchasing an additional 34,160 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Asbury Automotive Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $77,544,000.

About Asbury Automotive Group

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.