California Public Employees Retirement System Raises Stock Position in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG

California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 8.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,564 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,748 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Asbury Automotive Group were worth $7,145,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABG. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,383,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 49.1% during 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 in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the first quarter valued at about $265,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 11.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,687,000 after purchasing an additional 783 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 3.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 51,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,676 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays cut their price target on Asbury Automotive Group from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $242.00 price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $220.00 target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Asbury Automotive Group from $202.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $233.12.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance

NYSE:ABG opened at $224.84 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $200.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $209.63. The company has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.74. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $172.01 and a 52 week high of $263.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $5.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.62 by ($0.25). The business had revenue of $4.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.37 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 3.05%.Asbury Automotive Group’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.82 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Asbury Automotive Group

In other news, Director B. Christopher Disantis acquired 157 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $182.31 per share, with a total value of $28,622.67. Following the purchase, the director owned 6,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,166,784. This represents a 2.51% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Asbury Automotive Group

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc (NYSE:ABG) is one of the largest automotive retailers in the United States. Headquartered in Duluth, Georgia, the company operates a network of franchised dealerships representing a diverse portfolio of automotive brands. Its core business activities include the sale of new and pre-owned vehicles, as well as the provision of vehicle finance, insurance and protection products to retail customers.

In addition to retail sales, Asbury offers a comprehensive suite of after-sales services, from scheduled maintenance and certified collision repair to parts distribution.