Financial Strategies Group Inc. Buys Shares of 1,996 Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG)

Financial Strategies Group Inc. acquired a new position in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,996 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $450,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 7.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,056,825 shares of the company's stock worth $240,818,000 after buying an additional 69,975 shares during the period. Eminence Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 41.5% in the second quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 498,542 shares of the company's stock valued at $113,603,000 after purchasing an additional 146,246 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 4.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 197,765 shares of the company's stock worth $45,065,000 after purchasing an additional 7,754 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 366.1% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 189,586 shares of the company's stock worth $45,233,000 after purchasing an additional 148,910 shares during the period. Finally, Magnolia Group LLC raised its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Magnolia Group LLC now owns 110,000 shares of the company's stock worth $25,066,000 after buying an additional 8,000 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Craig Hallum raised their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Asbury Automotive Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stephens began coverage on Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $216.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $310.00 to $305.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $256.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Asbury Automotive Group

In other Asbury Automotive Group news, CEO David W. Hult sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.18, for a total transaction of $113,590.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 56,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,911,548.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO David W. Hult sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.18, for a total transaction of $113,590.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 56,834 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,911,548.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Impactive Capital Lp sold 8,353 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.63, for a total value of $1,884,687.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,008,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $453,211,473.87. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance

Shares of ABG traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $260.45. 161,906 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 185,579. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $230.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $232.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.78 and a beta of 1.16. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $195.09 and a 52-week high of $277.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $6.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.58 by ($0.23). Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 16.51% and a net margin of 2.16%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $8.12 EPS. Asbury Automotive Group's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 25.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Asbury Automotive Group 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.