Van ECK Associates Corp Takes Position in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG)

Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG – Get Rating) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $452,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,577,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,878,000 after purchasing an additional 122,138 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 6.7% in the third quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,448,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,855,000 after acquiring an additional 90,426 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 807,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,411,000 after acquiring an additional 16,163 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 35.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 761,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,929,000 after purchasing an additional 198,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 545,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,857,000 after purchasing an additional 117,035 shares during the period.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP George A. Villasana sold 2,828 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.60, for a total value of $666,276.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,290 shares in the company, valued at $1,010,724. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on ABG shares. Stephens raised their target price on Asbury Automotive Group to $275.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $135.00 to $128.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 17th.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance

Asbury Automotive Group stock opened at $202.06 on Tuesday. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $138.88 and a 1-year high of $253.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.35 billion, a PE ratio of 4.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $202.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.51.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The company reported $8.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.94 by $0.43. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 6.23%. The company had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 31.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Asbury Automotive Group

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Asbury Automotive Group, Inc is a franchised automotive retailer. It operates through the Dealerships and Total Care Auto (TCA) segments. The Dealerships segment offers a range of automotive products and services fulfilling the entire vehicle ownership lifecycle including the sale of new and used vehicles and the provision of vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services.