Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) Shares Bought by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. raised its position in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG – Get Rating) by 47.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 16,366 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,281 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Asbury Automotive Group were worth $2,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 136.0% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 428,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,805,000 after acquiring an additional 247,119 shares during the last quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the third quarter valued at $30,288,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 35.4% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 761,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,929,000 after acquiring an additional 198,985 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 360.5% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 241,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,953,000 after acquiring an additional 189,329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 5.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,577,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,878,000 after acquiring an additional 122,138 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens increased their price objective on Asbury Automotive Group to $275.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. StockNews.com started coverage on Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance

NYSE ABG opened at $204.35 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $200.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $198.10. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $138.88 and a twelve month high of $253.67. The company has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of 4.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The company reported $8.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.94 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.79 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 6.23%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.27 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 31.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Asbury Automotive Group

In other news, SVP George A. Villasana sold 2,828 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 9th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,010,724. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

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.