Brokerages Set Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) Target Price at $256.20

Shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $256.20.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ABG. Craig Hallum upped their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $310.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $216.00 price objective for the company.

Asbury Automotive Group Price Performance

Shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock opened at $242.96 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $250.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $239.53. The company has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a PE ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.41. Asbury Automotive Group has a fifty-two week low of $195.09 and a fifty-two week high of $277.13.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $6.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.58 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a net margin of 2.16% and a return on equity of 16.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $8.12 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Asbury Automotive Group will post 25.17 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Asbury Automotive Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $506,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 94.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 38,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,220,000 after acquiring an additional 18,821 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $222,000. Castleark Management LLC bought a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group during the third quarter valued at $2,310,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 801,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $191,204,000 after purchasing an additional 3,672 shares during the period.

About Asbury Automotive Group

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.