Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $250.5714.

A number of equities analysts have commented on ABG shares. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $275.00 to $251.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price target on Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Monday. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Zacks Research lowered Asbury Automotive Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Asbury Automotive Group from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th.

Asbury Automotive Group Trading Down 2.0%

ABG opened at $243.56 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $234.94 and its 200-day moving average is $239.33. Asbury Automotive Group has a 52-week low of $201.68 and a 52-week high of $312.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

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

Institutional Trading of Asbury Automotive Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 319.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 109 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 69.2% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the first quarter worth about $49,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 64.8% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 206 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group in the first quarter valued at about $56,000.

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.