Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG Shares Sold by Citigroup Inc.

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. reduced its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 46.1% during the first quarter, owning 59,827 shares worth approximately $13.2 million after selling 51,070 shares.
• Asbury Automotive Group received a notable upgrade from Wall Street analysts, with several raising their price targets and ratings, including a shift from "hold" to "buy" by Wall Street Zen.
• The company's latest earnings report revealed an EPS of $7.43, beating estimates, while revenue for the quarter was $4.37 billion, up 3.0% year-over-year but below expectations.

Citigroup Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG - Free Report) by 46.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,827 shares of the company's stock after selling 51,070 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.30% of Asbury Automotive Group worth $13,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABG. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,108,176 shares of the company's stock valued at $269,322,000 after buying an additional 9,688 shares in the last quarter. Eminence Capital LP increased its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 787,775 shares of the company's stock valued at $191,453,000 after buying an additional 107,317 shares in the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 10.1% in the first quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 373,320 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,444,000 after buying an additional 34,160 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 239,007 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,086,000 after buying an additional 19,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnolia Group LLC increased its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 50.6% in the first quarter. Magnolia Group LLC now owns 224,623 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,606,000 after buying an additional 75,500 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABG has been the subject of several recent research reports. 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Asbury Automotive Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Asbury Automotive Group from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Cfra set a $225.00 price objective on Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $254.00.

Asbury Automotive Group Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE ABG traded up $1.88 on Tuesday, reaching $242.32. 13,731 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 202,979. The business's fifty day moving average price is $239.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $241.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $201.68 and a fifty-two week high of $312.56.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $7.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.82 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.40 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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.