Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) Receives Buy (B) Rating from Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Asbury Automotive Group has received a "buy" rating reaffirmed by Weiss Ratings, highlighting positive analyst sentiment towards the stock.
• Analysts have varied price targets for the stock, with current consensus suggesting an average target price of $249.00.
• In terms of financial performance, Asbury reported $7.43 earnings per share for its last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b)" rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Cfra set a $225.00 price target on Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $249.00.

Asbury Automotive Group Price Performance

Shares of ABG stock traded up $1.66 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $244.86. The company had a trading volume of 54,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 193,770. Asbury Automotive Group has a 52 week low of $201.68 and a 52 week high of $312.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock's 50-day moving average is $242.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $236.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.85.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG - Get Free Report) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Asbury Automotive Group will post 26.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Asbury Automotive Group

In related news, SVP Jed Milstein sold 1,132 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.26, for a total value of $286,690.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,267 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,853,480.42. The trade was a 9.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Maureen F. Morrison sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.61, for a total value of $204,488.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,488,672.64. This trade represents a 12.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,957 shares of company stock valued at $745,501 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Asbury Automotive Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Eminence Capital LP boosted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 36.0% during the second quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 1,002,160 shares of the company's stock valued at $239,055,000 after acquiring an additional 265,539 shares during the period. Timucuan Asset Management Inc. FL raised its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 1.5% in the second quarter. Timucuan Asset Management Inc. FL now owns 724,082 shares of the company's stock worth $172,723,000 after purchasing an additional 10,924 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 0.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 472,476 shares of the company's stock worth $112,717,000 after purchasing an additional 3,437 shares in the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 10.1% during the first quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 373,320 shares of the company's stock worth $82,444,000 after buying an additional 34,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the second quarter worth approximately $77,544,000.

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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