Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes $592,000 Position in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $592,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABG. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 4,638 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,127,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 49,251 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,969,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,279 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,984,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 7,638 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,856,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on ABG. Citigroup started coverage on Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $236.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Cfra set a $225.00 price target on Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Bank of America increased their price target on Asbury Automotive Group from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Asbury Automotive Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $253.00.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE ABG traded down $2.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $221.87. 142,035 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 229,704. The business's 50-day moving average is $238.95 and its 200-day moving average is $243.45. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $201.68 and a twelve month high of $312.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.87.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $7.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm posted $6.40 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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.