Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $4.94 Million Stock Holdings in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 10.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,727 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,907 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned about 0.11% of Asbury Automotive Group worth $4,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABG. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group in the 1st quarter valued at $56,000. CWM LLC grew its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC bought a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group during the 1st quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in Asbury Automotive Group during the second quarter worth $250,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Asbury Automotive Group from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Thursday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $254.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Asbury Automotive Group

In other Asbury Automotive Group news, SVP Jed Milstein sold 1,132 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.26, for a total transaction of $286,690.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 11,267 shares in the company, valued at $2,853,480.42. This represents a 9.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Maureen F. Morrison sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.61, for a total value of $204,488.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,488,672.64. The trade was a 12.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 2,957 shares of company stock worth $745,501 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Asbury Automotive Group Price Performance

Asbury Automotive Group stock opened at $224.88 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $241.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $238.77. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $201.68 and a 12 month high of $312.56. The company has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.88, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $7.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.80 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.84 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 15.26% and a net margin of 3.15%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.35 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 EPS for the current year.

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.