California Public Employees Retirement System Acquires 2,748 Shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 8.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,564 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,748 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.20% of Asbury Automotive Group worth $7,145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABG. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 11.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,383,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 49.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 278,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,561,000 after buying an additional 91,767 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group in the first quarter worth $265,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 11.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,687,000 after acquiring an additional 783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 3.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 51,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,676 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $202.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $220.00 target price on Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Asbury Automotive Group from $260.00 to $212.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Asbury Automotive Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $233.12.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance

NYSE ABG opened at $224.84 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $172.01 and a twelve month high of $263.38. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $200.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $209.63.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $5.37 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.82 EPS. Asbury Automotive Group’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director B. Christopher Disantis purchased 157 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $182.31 per share, with a total value of $28,622.67. Following the purchase, the director owned 6,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,166,784. This trade represents a 2.51% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

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.