Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG Shares Acquired by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 196.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,085 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,033 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Asbury Automotive Group were worth $1,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 69.2% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 9,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,236,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,351,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ABG. Zacks Research cut shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Asbury Automotive Group from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “reduce” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $247.57.

Asbury Automotive Group Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:ABG opened at $207.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.28 and a beta of 0.81. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $201.68 and a 1-year high of $274.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $233.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $237.92.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $6.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.70 by ($0.03). Asbury Automotive Group had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 14.51%. The company had revenue of $4.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.26 EPS. Asbury Automotive Group’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Asbury Automotive Group

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.