River Road Asset Management LLC Lowers Stake in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG)

River Road Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,685 shares of the company’s stock after selling 381 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.23% of Asbury Automotive Group worth $10,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 5.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,577,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,878,000 after purchasing an additional 122,138 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 2.0% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 828,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,946,000 after purchasing an additional 16,208 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 35.4% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 761,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,929,000 after purchasing an additional 198,985 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 607,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,855,000 after acquiring an additional 91,748 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 1,592.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 483,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,672,000 after acquiring an additional 455,168 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Craig Hallum lowered shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 8th.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Down 2.0 %

NYSE:ABG opened at $211.98 on Thursday. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $178.40 and a 1-year high of $256.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $216.90 and a 200 day moving average of $213.08. The firm has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a PE ratio of 7.41 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $7.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.74 by ($0.62). The business had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.70 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 21.68% and a net margin of 4.07%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 31.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Asbury Automotive Group news, SVP Jed Milstein sold 3,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.00, for a total value of $826,595.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,300 shares in the company, valued at $1,734,700. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.