Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

Posted by Eileen French on Mar 19th, 2023

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG – Get Rating) in a report issued on Thursday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the stock.

ABG has been the subject of several other reports. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $135.00 to $128.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Down 3.4 %

ABG stock opened at $196.04 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $216.79 and a 200 day moving average of $184.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a PE ratio of 4.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Asbury Automotive Group has a 52 week low of $138.88 and a 52 week high of $253.67.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $9.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.23 by $0.89. Asbury Automotive Group had a net margin of 6.46% and a return on equity of 33.22%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 39.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Asbury Automotive Group will post 30.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP George A. Villasana sold 2,828 shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.60, for a total transaction of $666,276.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,010,724. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Berman Bridget Ryan sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.44, for a total value of $243,012.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,068,558.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP George A. Villasana sold 2,828 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.60, for a total transaction of $666,276.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,010,724. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,928 shares of company stock valued at $7,441,409 in the last three months. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Asbury Automotive Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABG. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $593,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 8.9% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 1.2% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,099,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 56.3% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 12,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,993,000 after buying an additional 4,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 7.3% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 63,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,235,000 after buying an additional 4,367 shares in the last quarter.

Asbury Automotive Group Company Profile

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Asbury Automotive Group, Inc operates as a franchised automotive retailer. It operates through the Dealerships and Total Care Auto (TCA) segments. The Dealerships segment offers a range of automotive products and services fulfilling the entire vehicle ownership lifecycle including the sale of new and used vehicles and the provision of vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services.