Magnetar Financial LLC Purchases New Stake in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC invested $1.99 million in Asbury Automotive Group, acquiring 9,007 shares in the company during the first quarter.
• Insider transactions included Director Juanita T. James selling 625 shares for $152,562.50, and SVP Jed Milstein selling 1,132 shares totaling approximately $286,690.32.
• Brokerage analysts set new price targets for Asbury Automotive Group, with Bank of America boosting its target to $335.00 and JPMorgan reducing it to $215.00.

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 9,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,989,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the 1st quarter valued at $49,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 39.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 586 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 858 shares of the company's stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group in the 1st quarter worth about $197,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America increased 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 report on Monday, June 16th. Stephens raised shares of Asbury Automotive Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Cfra set a $225.00 target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Asbury Automotive Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Two 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 company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $254.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Asbury Automotive Group

In other news, SVP Dean Calloway sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.40, for a total transaction of $101,760.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 5,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,347,048. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maureen F. Morrison sold 800 shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.61, for a total value of $204,488.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,488,672.64. This represents a 12.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,957 shares of company stock worth $745,501 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.

Asbury Automotive Group Price Performance

ABG stock traded up $4.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $258.07. 54,235 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 199,489. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $242.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $238.29. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $201.68 and a 12 month high of $312.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.42, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.89.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $4.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.40 EPS. Asbury Automotive Group's quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 EPS for the current year.

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.