Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG Shares Purchased by Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.

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. lifted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG - Free Report) by 30.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,597 shares of the company's stock after buying 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 quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc increased 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 worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the first quarter worth about $49,000. eCIO Inc. purchased a new position in Asbury Automotive Group in the 1st quarter worth about $56,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 39.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 586 shares of the company's stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings 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.

Insider Activity

In other Asbury Automotive Group news, Director Juanita T. James sold 625 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.10, for a total value of $152,562.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,855 shares in the company, valued at $1,673,305.50. This trade represents a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Maureen F. Morrison sold 800 shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.61, for a total transaction of $204,488.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,824 shares in the company, valued at $1,488,672.64. This represents a 12.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,957 shares of company stock valued at $745,501 over the last 90 days. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:ABG traded down $0.83 on Monday, reaching $240.37. The company had a trading volume of 133,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 133,111. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $201.68 and a 52-week high of $312.56. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $240.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $235.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a PE ratio of 8.78, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.89. 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 (NYSE:ABG - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 15.41% and a net margin of 3.13%.The firm had revenue of $4.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.40 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ABG. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Stephens raised Asbury Automotive Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $249.00.

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.