Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG – Get Rating) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investors owned 10,297 shares of the company’s stock after selling 811 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Asbury Automotive Group were worth $1,844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ABG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 5.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,577,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $412,878,000 after buying an additional 122,138 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its position 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 worth $218,855,000 after purchasing an additional 90,426 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 2.0% during the first 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 lifted its holdings 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 period. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 545,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,857,000 after acquiring an additional 117,035 shares during the period.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ABG. Stephens raised their target price 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 report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating for the company.
Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE ABG opened at $204.35 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $200.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $198.10. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a one-year low of $138.88 and a one-year high of $253.67. The firm has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.12.
Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The company reported $8.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $3.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.27 EPS. Asbury Automotive Group’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equity analysts forecast that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 31.52 EPS for the current year.
Insider Activity
In other news, SVP George A. Villasana sold 2,828 shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.60, for a total transaction of $666,276.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,010,724. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible via the SEC website. 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.
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