Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) Receives $263.50 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $259.33.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ABG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America raised their price target 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. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $236.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th.

Institutional Trading of Asbury Automotive Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ABG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,079,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,118,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 30,639.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 129,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $285,790,000 after purchasing an additional 128,991 shares during the period. Eminence Capital LP grew its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 787,775 shares of the company's stock valued at $191,453,000 after purchasing an additional 107,317 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 49.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 278,760 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,561,000 after purchasing an additional 91,767 shares during the period.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of ABG stock traded up $0.15 on Wednesday, hitting $229.67. The stock had a trading volume of 175,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 197,168. Asbury Automotive Group has a 52-week low of $201.68 and a 52-week high of $312.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.96. The stock's 50 day moving average is $239.74 and its 200-day moving average is $245.01.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $6.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $7.21 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Asbury Automotive Group will post 26.28 earnings per share for the current 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.