Insider Buying: Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) Director Acquires 157 Shares of Stock

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) Director B. Christopher Disantis acquired 157 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $182.31 per share, with a total value of $28,622.67. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 6,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,166,784. This trade represents a 2.51% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

B. Christopher Disantis also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, March 10th, B. Christopher Disantis acquired 500 shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $202.30 per share, with a total value of $101,150.00.

Asbury Automotive Group Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE ABG traded up $2.32 on Friday, hitting $187.70. 108,662 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 245,482. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $196.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $219.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.78. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $172.01 and a 52-week high of $274.50.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $5.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.62 by ($0.25). The company had revenue of $4.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.37 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a net margin of 3.05% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.82 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 25.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Asbury Automotive Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 128 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 10,983 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,553,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 3,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $731,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 69.2% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 132 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $220.00 target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $277.00 to $254.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $260.00 to $212.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.00.

Asbury Automotive Group Company Profile

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.