Vista Finance LLC Acquires 64 Shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG)

Vista Finance LLC boosted its position in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 982 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Vista Finance LLC’s holdings in Asbury Automotive Group were worth $217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group during the 4th quarter worth $82,426,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Asbury Automotive Group in the 4th quarter worth about $82,079,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in Asbury Automotive Group in the 4th quarter worth about $51,118,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 30,639.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 129,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,790,000 after purchasing an additional 128,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eminence Capital LP increased its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 787,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $191,453,000 after purchasing an additional 107,317 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ABG. Bank of America began coverage on Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $325.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Asbury Automotive Group from $290.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Craig Hallum cut Asbury Automotive Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Asbury Automotive Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $236.00 price target for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $261.83.

Asbury Automotive Group Trading Down 3.1%

Shares of ABG stock opened at $232.35 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $227.12 and a 200-day moving average of $246.09. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $201.68 and a 1-year high of $312.56. The stock has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $6.82 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.84 by ($0.02). Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 16.29% and a net margin of 2.50%. The business had revenue of $4.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $7.21 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Asbury Automotive Group Company 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.