Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Trims Stock Holdings in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,826 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,951 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Asbury Automotive Group were worth $691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted 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 worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 64.8% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 206 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 104.2% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 700.0% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $191,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 7.3% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 825 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ABG. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Monday, December 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Asbury Automotive Group from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research cut Asbury Automotive Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $250.43.

Asbury Automotive Group Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock opened at $253.70 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $237.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $240.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.99. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $201.68 and a fifty-two week high of $312.56. The company has a market cap of $4.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.89 and a beta of 0.82.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $7.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.80 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.84 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 15.26% and a net margin of 3.15%.Asbury Automotive Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.35 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.