Barclays Cuts Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) Price Target to $225.00

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) had its price objective decreased by Barclays from $235.00 to $225.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

ABG has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $260.00 to $212.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $220.00 price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $242.00 price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $233.12.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance

Asbury Automotive Group stock opened at $220.40 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a PE ratio of 7.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.74. Asbury Automotive Group has a 12-month low of $172.01 and a 12-month high of $263.38. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $198.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $210.39.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $5.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.62 by ($0.25). Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 3.05%.The company had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Asbury Automotive Group will post 25.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director B. Christopher Disantis purchased 157 shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $182.31 per share, for a total transaction of $28,622.67. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,166,784. This represents a 2.51% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Asbury Automotive Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABG. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 1,570.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,113,000 after buying an additional 8,542 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 52.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 53,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,194,000 after acquiring an additional 18,507 shares during the period. Comerica Bank lifted its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 103.1% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 18,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,390,000 after acquiring an additional 9,586 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in Asbury Automotive Group during the fourth quarter worth $5,639,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 106.5% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 296,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,842,000 after acquiring an additional 152,669 shares in the last quarter.

About Asbury Automotive Group

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.