Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 77,159 Shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 88.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,597 shares of the company’s stock after selling 77,159 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Asbury Automotive Group were worth $2,289,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $77,544,000. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 122.0% during the second quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 199,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,413,000 after purchasing an additional 109,896 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 49.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 278,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,561,000 after purchasing an additional 91,767 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $17,922,000. Finally, Voss Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 43.7% in the 1st quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 169,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,346,000 after purchasing an additional 51,411 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ABG. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Zacks Research cut shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Asbury Automotive Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $250.57.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance

ABG stock opened at $238.89 on Friday. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $201.68 and a twelve month high of $312.56. The firm has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.37, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.88. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $235.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $238.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $7.17 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 15.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.35 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 earnings per share 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.