Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Has $15.76 Million Stock Position in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 4.7%, owning 71,354 shares worth approximately $15.76 million after acquiring 3,183 additional shares.
• Asbury Automotive Group's stock price has seen a 0.6% decrease recently, with a current trading value of $240.64 and a market capitalization of $4.73 billion.
• The company reported an EPS of $7.43 for its latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, while revenue was $4.37 billion, slightly below forecasts.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 71,354 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,183 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned 0.36% of Asbury Automotive Group worth $15,758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ABG. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,502 shares of the company's stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 43.9% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 164 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Choreo LLC lifted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 1.7% in the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 3,094 shares of the company's stock valued at $683,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 1.7% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,540 shares of the company's stock valued at $782,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 7.5% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 858 shares of the company's stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ABG. Stephens raised Asbury Automotive Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Cfra set a $225.00 price objective on Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. 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 lifted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $254.00.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Down 0.9%

Asbury Automotive Group stock traded down $2.0550 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $238.7950. The stock had a trading volume of 30,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 202,203. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $239.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $241.46. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $201.68 and a 1-year high of $312.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $7.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.82 by $0.61. The firm 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.40 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Asbury Automotive Group

In other news, Director Juanita T. James sold 625 shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.10, for a total transaction of $152,562.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,855 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,305.50. The trade was a 8.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.59% of the company's stock.

Asbury Automotive Group 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.