Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) Stock Has Average Price Target of $220.88

Shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $220.88.

Several brokerages recently commented on ABG. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $232.00 target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 16th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $230.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Seaport Research Partners raised shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 8th.

Institutional Trading of Asbury Automotive Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $593,499,000. Cooke & Bieler LP acquired a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $65,167,000. Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $60,592,000. Lakewood Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,919,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Asbury Automotive Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,142,000.

Asbury Automotive Group Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of ABG opened at $207.33 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $188.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $203.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.78. Asbury Automotive Group has a 12-month low of $160.30 and a 12-month high of $258.74.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $6.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.42 by ($0.26). Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 2.66%. The firm had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $7.17 EPS. Asbury Automotive Group’s revenue was down 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Asbury Automotive Group will post 24.92 earnings per share for the current year.

About Asbury Automotive Group

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc is a U.S.-based automotive retailer that operates franchised and independent dealerships. Its dealerships sell new and used vehicles from a range of domestic, import and luxury automobile brands, and provide related services throughout the vehicle ownership cycle.

The company’s operations include automotive repair and maintenance, parts and accessories, collision repair, vehicle financing and insurance products, and other dealership services. Asbury also supports vehicle sales and service through digital retailing and online customer tools.

Founded in 1995, Asbury has expanded through acquisitions and serves customers across multiple markets in the United States.