Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG Shares Purchased by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 35.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,535 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,730 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC owned 0.05% of Asbury Automotive Group worth $2,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Timucuan Asset Management Inc. FL increased its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Timucuan Asset Management Inc. FL now owns 713,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,494,000 after purchasing an additional 5,284 shares during the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 373,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,444,000 after acquiring an additional 34,160 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 278,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,561,000 after acquiring an additional 91,767 shares during the period. Magnolia Group LLC boosted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 50.6% during the 1st quarter. Magnolia Group LLC now owns 224,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,606,000 after acquiring an additional 75,500 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 213,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,259,000 after acquiring an additional 2,230 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ABG shares. Cfra set a $225.00 target price on Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Stephens upgraded Asbury Automotive Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. 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, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Asbury Automotive Group from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $249.00.

Asbury Automotive Group Price Performance

ABG stock opened at $242.60 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $242.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $235.96. The stock has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.86, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.89. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $201.68 and a fifty-two week high of $312.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $7.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Asbury Automotive Group

In other news, SVP Dean Calloway sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.40, for a total value of $101,760.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 5,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,347,048. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,853,480.42. The trade was a 9.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,957 shares of company stock worth $745,501. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.