Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) Upgraded to Hold at UBS Group

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) was upgraded by analysts at UBS Group to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stephens dropped their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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 price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective 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. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $233.50.

Asbury Automotive Group Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock opened at $195.08 on Wednesday. Asbury Automotive Group has a 1 year low of $172.01 and a 1 year high of $274.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $195.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $218.03. The stock has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 6.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.78.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $5.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.62 by ($0.25). The firm had revenue of $4.11 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.82 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Asbury Automotive Group will post 25.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Asbury Automotive Group

In other news, Director B. Christopher Disantis purchased 157 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $182.31 per share, with a total value of $28,622.67. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 6,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,166,784. This represents a 2.51% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Asbury Automotive Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 10,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 69.2% in the 2nd 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. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 3,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $731,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter.

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.