KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Increases Stock Holdings in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 18.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,900 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Asbury Automotive Group were worth $930,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABG. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,111,000. Advisor Resource Council acquired a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $455,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 73.2% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 18,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,156,000 after purchasing an additional 7,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC raised its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 23.8% in the 1st quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Asbury Automotive Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America reduced their price target on Asbury Automotive Group from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Stephens raised Asbury Automotive Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $251.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Asbury Automotive Group news, Director Maureen F. Morrison sold 800 shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director owned 5,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,488,672.64. The trade was a 12.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jed Milstein sold 1,132 shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.26, for a total value of $286,690.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,853,480.42. This trade represents a 9.13% 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. Insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Asbury Automotive Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABG opened at $248.32 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.30. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $201.68 and a fifty-two week high of $312.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $245.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.47.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last issued 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. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 15.41% and a net margin of 3.13%.The business had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.40 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.