Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 18,999 Shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 1.7%, selling 18,999 shares while holding approximately 1,089,177 shares, worth around $240.5 million.
• Analysts have provided mixed ratings for Asbury Automotive Group, with Bank of America upgrading their price target to $335 and JPMorgan Chase lowering theirs to $215.
• Asbury Automotive Group's share price has declined by 1.8%, with current trading at $240.68 and a market capitalization of $4.73 billion.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,089,177 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,999 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 5.54% of Asbury Automotive Group worth $240,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABG. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 43.9% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 164 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Asbury Automotive Group during the first quarter worth $49,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 39.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 586 shares of the company's stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 801.4% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 631 shares of the company's stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 7.5% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 858 shares of the company's stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ABG. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of 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 target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Stephens upgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $254.00.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Up 5.5%

Shares of NYSE ABG traded up $13.24 during trading on Friday, hitting $253.38. The stock had a trading volume of 187,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 222,778. The company has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a PE ratio of 9.25, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $239.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $240.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.49. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $7.43 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 15.41%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Juanita T. James sold 625 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.10, for a total transaction of $152,562.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,855 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,305.50. This represents a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.59% of the company's stock.

About Asbury Automotive Group

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.