Petrus Trust Company LTA Takes Position in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG

Key Points

• Petrus Trust Company LTA has acquired 2,212 shares of Asbury Automotive Group, valued at approximately $488,000, marking a new position for the institutional investor.
• Insider selling activity included Dean Calloway and Jed Milstein, who sold shares valued at over $388,000 combined, indicating a decrease in their respective holdings.
• Analysts have mixed views on Asbury Automotive Group with Bank of America raising its price target to $335, while JPMorgan Chase lowered theirs to $215, reflecting varied market outlooks.

Petrus Trust Company LTA purchased a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,212 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $488,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 11.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,263 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,383,000 after buying an additional 619 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in Asbury Automotive Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $5,212,000. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 5.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 106,948 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,619,000 after buying an additional 5,468 shares during the last quarter. Harber Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Harber Asset Management LLC now owns 20,993 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,636,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 129.3% in the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 2,206 shares of the company's stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 1,244 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ABG. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Cfra set a $225.00 price target on Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. Bank of America decreased their price target on Asbury Automotive Group from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens raised Asbury Automotive Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Asbury Automotive Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $249.00.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Down 2.9%

NYSE ABG traded down $7.36 on Friday, reaching $245.49. 25,520 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 196,855. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $243.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $236.82. The company has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.97, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.89. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $7.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.82 by $0.61. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 15.41% and a net margin of 3.13%.The business had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.40 EPS. The business's revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Dean Calloway sold 400 shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.40, for a total value of $101,760.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 5,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,347,048. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jed Milstein sold 1,132 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.26, for a total value of $286,690.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 11,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,853,480.42. The trade was a 9.13% 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 valued at $745,501. 0.59% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.