Royal Bank of Canada Increases Position in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG

Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG - Free Report) by 5.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 106,948 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 5,468 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.54% of Asbury Automotive Group worth $23,619,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harber Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 3.4% in the first quarter. Harber Asset Management LLC now owns 20,993 shares of the company's stock worth $4,636,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 129.3% during the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 2,206 shares of the company's stock worth $487,000 after buying an additional 1,244 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,430 shares of the company's stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,989,000. Finally, Timucuan Asset Management Inc. FL grew its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Timucuan Asset Management Inc. FL now owns 713,158 shares of the company's stock valued at $157,494,000 after buying an additional 5,284 shares in the last quarter.

Asbury Automotive Group Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of NYSE ABG traded down $8.90 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $243.95. 88,779 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 133,225. 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 quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $242.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $236.35. The firm has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.89.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $7.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.82 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $4.37 billion for 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%. Asbury Automotive Group's quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ABG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Cfra set a $225.00 price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Stephens raised shares of Asbury Automotive Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $249.00.

Insider Activity

In other Asbury Automotive Group news, SVP Jed Milstein sold 1,132 shares of the company'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 transaction of $286,690.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,267 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,853,480.42. This represents a 9.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Juanita T. James sold 625 shares of the company'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 transaction of $152,562.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,855 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,673,305.50. This represents a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,957 shares of company stock worth $745,501. Corporate insiders own 0.59% of the company's stock.

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.