Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts collectively rate Asbury Automotive Group “Hold.” Of nine analysts, six recommend holding, two recommend buying and one recommends selling; the average 12-month price target is $237.83.
• Recent analyst actions were mixed but generally constructive, including Seaport Research Partners’ upgrade to “Buy” with a $300 target, while Morgan Stanley and Barclays maintained “Equal Weight” ratings despite raising their price targets.
• Asbury exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $6.82 EPS versus the $6.31 estimate, though revenue of $4.38 billion fell short of forecasts and was up only 0.3% year over year.

Shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the nine analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $237.8333.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ABG shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Asbury Automotive Group from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Seaport Research Partners upgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $242.00 price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group set a $250.00 price objective on Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Asbury Automotive Group

In related news, SVP Jed Milstein sold 948 shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.28, for a total value of $237,265.44. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,259 shares in the company, valued at $2,817,902.52. This trade represents a 7.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Asbury Automotive Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABG. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 1,067.2% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 14,217 shares of the company's stock worth $2,859,000 after purchasing an additional 12,999 shares in the last quarter. GoodHaven Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 29.0% in the 2nd quarter. GoodHaven Capital Management LLC now owns 56,450 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,351,000 after purchasing an additional 12,689 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 263.3% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 178 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $243,000. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 4,310 shares of the company's stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance

Shares of ABG stock opened at $208.46 on Monday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $216.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.38. The firm has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.80, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.71. Asbury Automotive Group has a 1 year low of $172.01 and a 1 year high of $258.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $6.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.31 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.49 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 2.83%.The business's quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $7.43 EPS. Analysts predict that Asbury Automotive Group will post 26.44 earnings per share for the current year.

About Asbury Automotive Group

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc is a U.S.-based automotive retailer that sells new and used vehicles through a network of franchised dealerships. The company represents a range of domestic, import and luxury automotive brands and serves consumers in multiple markets across the United States.

In addition to vehicle sales, Asbury provides automotive maintenance and repair services, replacement parts, collision repair and other dealership-related services. Its dealerships also offer financing and insurance products, vehicle protection plans and digital tools designed to support vehicle purchasing and ownership.

Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Duluth, Georgia, Asbury has expanded through acquisitions as well as the development of its dealership portfolio.

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