Bank of America Has Lowered Expectations for Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) Stock Price

Key Points

• Bank of America has lowered its price target for Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) from $335.00 to $300.00 while maintaining a "buy" rating on the stock, indicating a potential upside of 20.41% from its previous close.
• Shares of Asbury Automotive Group fell by 1.9% to $249.16, with an average rating of "Hold" and an overall average target price of $249.00 among analysts.
• Asbury Automotive recently reported earnings of $7.43 per share, exceeding consensus estimates, but its revenue was slightly below expectations at $4.37 billion for the quarter.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG - Free Report) had its target price decreased by Bank of America from $335.00 to $300.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on ABG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley increased 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 research report on Thursday, August 14th. Stephens upgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Cfra set a $225.00 price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Two equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $249.00.

Asbury Automotive Group Trading Up 0.4%

Asbury Automotive Group stock traded up $0.94 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $245.18. The stock had a trading volume of 40,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 196,304. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $242.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $236.13. Asbury Automotive Group has a twelve month low of $201.68 and a twelve month high of $312.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.97, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.89.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $6.82 by $0.61. Asbury Automotive Group had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 15.41%. The company had revenue of $4.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.40 EPS. The company's revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Asbury Automotive Group will post 26.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jed Milstein sold 1,132 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.26, for a total value of $286,690.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,853,480.42. This trade represents a 9.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Dean Calloway sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 5,295 shares in the company, valued at $1,347,048. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,957 shares of company stock valued at $745,501. 0.59% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Asbury Automotive Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 69.2% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 132 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 100.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,259 shares of the company's stock valued at $544,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 67,024 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,988,000 after acquiring an additional 4,885 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 326.7% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,792 shares of the company's stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 16.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the company's stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter.

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.