Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) Price Target Cut to $230.00

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) had its target price lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $235.00 to $230.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Separately, Craig Hallum lowered shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 8th.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance

ABG stock opened at $213.75 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $217.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $213.13. Asbury Automotive Group has a 52 week low of $178.40 and a 52 week high of $256.39. The stock has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.79 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $7.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.76 by ($0.55). Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 20.12% and a net margin of 3.68%. The firm had revenue of $4.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $8.37 earnings per share. Asbury Automotive Group’s revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Asbury Automotive Group will post 30.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Asbury Automotive Group news, SVP Jed Milstein sold 3,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.00, for a total value of $826,595.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,734,700. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ABG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,319,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,771,000 after purchasing an additional 10,656 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 894,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,261,000 after acquiring an additional 65,872 shares during the last quarter. Eminence Capital LP raised its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 328,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,811,000 after acquiring an additional 70,089 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $67,417,000. Finally, Brave Warrior Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC now owns 278,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,624,000 after acquiring an additional 3,101 shares during the last quarter.

Asbury Automotive Group Company Profile

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an automotive retailer in the United States. It offers a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; and vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services.