Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG Shares Purchased by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 16.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,141 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,314 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.22% of Asbury Automotive Group worth $10,529,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABG. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 5.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 106,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,619,000 after acquiring an additional 5,468 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 30.4% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 30.3% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,335,000 after purchasing an additional 1,302 shares during the period. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the 1st quarter worth about $795,000. Finally, Petrus Trust Company LTA acquired a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $488,000.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance

Shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock opened at $234.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of 8.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $235.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $238.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.99. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $201.68 and a 1 year high of $312.56.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $7.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.80 by $0.37. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 15.26% and a net margin of 3.15%.The business had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.35 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ABG. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Monday. Bank of America decreased 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 research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Stephens upgraded 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 report on Wednesday, August 13th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Asbury Automotive Group from $275.00 to $251.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Asbury Automotive Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $250.57.

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.