Aristeia Capital L.L.C. Purchases Shares of 1,530 Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG

Key Points

• Aristeia Capital L.L.C. acquired 1,530 shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. for approximately $338,000, indicating growing institutional interest in the automotive retailer.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings on the stock, with two analysts giving a "Buy" rating and an average price target of $254.00, reflecting varying confidence in the company's performance.
• Asbury Automotive reported $7.43 earnings per share last quarter, surpassing estimates, but anticipates revenue growth challenges moving forward.

Aristeia Capital L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABG. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the 4th quarter valued at $909,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 51.4% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 20,490 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,980,000 after purchasing an additional 6,956 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 117,799 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,629,000 after purchasing an additional 4,941 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the 4th quarter valued at $3,583,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 68.1% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,425 shares of the company's stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,388 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ABG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on 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. Cfra set a $225.00 target price on Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Stephens raised Asbury Automotive Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Asbury Automotive Group from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $249.00.

Asbury Automotive Group Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of ABG stock traded down $8.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $243.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 88,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 133,225. 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's fifty day simple moving average is $242.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.60. The company has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a PE ratio of 8.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.89. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $201.68 and a 52 week high of $312.56.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $7.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.82 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $4.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 15.41% and a net margin of 3.13%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Asbury Automotive Group

In other news, SVP Dean Calloway sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.40, for a total value of $101,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 5,295 shares in the company, valued at $1,347,048. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Jed Milstein sold 1,132 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 11,267 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,853,480.42. This represents a 9.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,957 shares of company stock valued at $745,501. 0.59% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.