Legal & General Group Plc Takes Position in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 44,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,884,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.25% of Asbury Automotive Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group during the second quarter valued at about $593,499,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 3.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,156,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,977,000 after acquiring an additional 34,104 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 781,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,659,000 after acquiring an additional 9,535 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $77,963,000. Finally, Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $60,592,000.

Asbury Automotive Group Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE ABG opened at $209.19 on Wednesday. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $172.01 and a 1-year high of $262.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of 7.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $214.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $205.21.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $6.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.31 by $0.51. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 2.83%.The company had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.43 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group set a $250.00 target price on Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $242.00 target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Citigroup upped their price target on Asbury Automotive Group from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Asbury Automotive Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $246.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jed Milstein sold 948 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.28, for a total value of $237,265.44. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,817,902.52. This represents a 7.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

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.