Yousif Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG

Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its position in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,900 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Asbury Automotive Group were worth $1,884,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Timucuan Asset Management Inc. FL lifted its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 0.7% in the first quarter. Timucuan Asset Management Inc. FL now owns 713,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,494,000 after acquiring an additional 5,284 shares in the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 10.1% during the first quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 373,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,444,000 after buying an additional 34,160 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 49.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 278,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,561,000 after buying an additional 91,767 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Group LLC lifted its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 50.6% during the first quarter. Magnolia Group LLC now owns 224,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,606,000 after buying an additional 75,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 1.1% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 213,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,259,000 after buying an additional 2,230 shares in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Asbury Automotive Group news, SVP Dean Calloway sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.40, for a total transaction of $101,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 5,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,347,048. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jed Milstein sold 1,132 shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.26, for a total value of $286,690.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,853,480.42. The trade was a 9.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,957 shares of company stock worth $745,501 in the last three months. 0.59% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Asbury Automotive Group Price Performance

ABG stock opened at $244.02 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $245.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $236.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.85. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $201.68 and a 52-week high of $312.56.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $7.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.82 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $4.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 15.41% and a net margin of 3.13%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Asbury Automotive Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Asbury Automotive Group from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Asbury Automotive Group from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $251.14.

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.