Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. Has $6.75 Million Position in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG)

Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,615 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,245 shares during the quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. owned approximately 0.15% of Asbury Automotive Group worth $6,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the second quarter valued at $38,000. Creative Planning raised its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 132.1% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $895,000 after purchasing an additional 2,236 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC raised its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 47.7% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 5,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,860 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,690,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ABG. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $190.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Asbury Automotive Group from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Stephens began coverage on Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $216.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $237.75.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ABG opened at $233.63 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $234.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $230.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 1.16. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $178.40 and a 52 week high of $277.13.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The company reported $6.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.31 by ($0.91). The firm had revenue of $4.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.31 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 17.93%. Asbury Automotive Group’s quarterly revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.95 EPS. Analysts forecast that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David W. Hult sold 500 shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.18, for a total transaction of $113,590.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 56,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,911,548.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Asbury Automotive Group news, CEO David W. Hult sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.18, for a total transaction of $113,590.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,911,548.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Impactive Capital Lp sold 8,353 shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.63, for a total transaction of $1,884,687.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,008,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $453,211,473.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Asbury Automotive Group Profile

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an automotive retailer in the United States. It offers a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; and vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services.