The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $2.69 Million Stake in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,804 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.06% of Asbury Automotive Group worth $2,690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABG. Eminence Capital LP grew its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 41.5% in the second quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 498,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,603,000 after purchasing an additional 146,246 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 7.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,056,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,818,000 after purchasing an additional 69,975 shares during the last quarter. Khrom Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $14,572,000. GCM Grosvenor Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 250.8% in the second quarter. GCM Grosvenor Holdings LLC now owns 73,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,635,000 after buying an additional 52,191 shares during the period. Finally, Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE boosted its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 107.7% in the second quarter. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE now owns 47,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,811,000 after buying an additional 24,603 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens assumed coverage on Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $216.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Asbury Automotive Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $190.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com cut Asbury Automotive Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Asbury Automotive Group from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Asbury Automotive Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $237.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Impactive Capital Lp sold 8,353 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.63, for a total value 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Impactive Capital Lp sold 8,353 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.63, for a total value 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Hult sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.18, for a total value of $113,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 56,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,911,548.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE ABG opened at $228.28 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $232.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $231.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $178.40 and a fifty-two week high of $277.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a PE ratio of 8.32 and a beta of 1.16.

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

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.