Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) Shares Climb 9.1% After Analyst Upgrade

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG – Get Free Report) shot up 9.1% on Tuesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $193.00 to $204.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Asbury Automotive Group traded as high as $191.37 and last traded at $188.7280. 120,761 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 251,249 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.96.

ABG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $230.00 to $184.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Barclays restated a “reduce” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Zacks Research lowered Asbury Automotive Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Asbury Automotive Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $220.88.

Get Our Latest Research Report on ABG

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Asbury Automotive Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $593,499,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in 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 valued at $225,977,000 after purchasing an additional 34,104 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP bought a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group in the third quarter valued at $65,167,000. Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the second quarter valued at about $60,592,000. Finally, Magnolia Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 3.1% during the first quarter. Magnolia Group LLC now owns 288,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,279,000 after purchasing an additional 8,731 shares during the period.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Down 1.2%

The stock has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $189.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $204.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $6.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.42 by ($0.26). Asbury Automotive Group had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The firm had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $7.17 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 25.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Asbury Automotive Group

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Asbury Automotive Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Asbury Automotive Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.