Squarepoint Ops LLC Has $1.19 Million Stake in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG

Squarepoint Ops LLC trimmed its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 77.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,749 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Asbury Automotive Group were worth $1,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Eminence Capital LP boosted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 36.0% in the second quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 1,002,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,055,000 after acquiring an additional 265,539 shares during the last quarter. Timucuan Asset Management Inc. FL lifted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 1.5% in the second quarter. Timucuan Asset Management Inc. FL now owns 724,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,723,000 after buying an additional 10,924 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 0.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 472,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,717,000 after buying an additional 3,437 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group during the second quarter valued at $77,544,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew 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 worth $61,561,000 after acquiring an additional 91,767 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price objective on Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Barclays decreased their target price on Asbury Automotive Group from $275.00 to $251.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. 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 note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Monday, December 15th. Three research 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 has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $250.57.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Up 0.2%

ABG stock opened at $236.49 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $234.59 and a 200-day moving average of $239.78. 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 market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.29, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.88. 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 (NYSE:ABG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $7.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.80 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $4.80 billion for 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 company’s 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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Asbury Automotive Group Profile

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc (NYSE:ABG) is one of the largest automotive retailers in the United States. Headquartered in Duluth, Georgia, the company operates a network of franchised dealerships representing a diverse portfolio of automotive brands. Its core business activities include the sale of new and pre-owned vehicles, as well as the provision of vehicle finance, insurance and protection products to retail customers.

In addition to retail sales, Asbury offers a comprehensive suite of after-sales services, from scheduled maintenance and certified collision repair to parts distribution.