Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Increases Holdings in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG

Key Points

• Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 30.3% during the second quarter, holding a total of 5,597 shares valued at approximately $1.34 million.
• Insider transactions showed that SVP Jed Milstein and SVP Dean Calloway sold shares on August 22, reducing their ownership by 9.13% and 7.02% respectively.
• The company's latest earnings report indicated a surprise earnings per share of $7.43, beating estimates, while revenues were approximately $4.37 billion, slightly below projections.

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG - Free Report) by 30.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,597 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,302 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Asbury Automotive Group were worth $1,335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 43.9% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 164 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 4,074 shares of the company's stock worth $900,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC raised its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 3,094 shares of the company's stock worth $683,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,540 shares of the company's stock worth $782,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 858 shares of the company's stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Asbury Automotive Group news, Director Juanita T. James sold 625 shares of the business's 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 owned 6,855 shares in the company, valued at $1,673,305.50. The trade was a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Jed Milstein sold 1,132 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.26, for a total value of $286,690.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,267 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,853,480.42. This trade represents a 9.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,957 shares of company stock worth $745,501 over the last three months. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ABG shares. 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 research report on Thursday, August 14th. Cfra set a $225.00 price objective on Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Asbury Automotive Group from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Stephens raised Asbury Automotive Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $249.00.

Asbury Automotive Group Price Performance

Shares of ABG stock traded down $1.01 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $240.19. The stock had a trading volume of 16,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 195,057. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.89. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a one year low of $201.68 and a one year high of $312.56. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $241.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $235.54. 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 (NYSE:ABG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $7.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.82 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $4.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.44 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 15.41% and a net margin of 3.13%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.40 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 EPS for the current year.

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.