Stifel Financial Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG)

Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 1,990.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,926 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 18,973 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Asbury Automotive Group were worth $4,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,056,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,818,000 after purchasing an additional 69,975 shares during the period. Eminence Capital LP boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 146,246 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 197,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,065,000 after acquiring an additional 7,754 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 366.1% in the 3rd 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, Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new position in Asbury Automotive Group during the third quarter valued at $26,573,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABG has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America cut their price target on Asbury Automotive Group from $310.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Asbury Automotive Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $256.20.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance

NYSE:ABG opened at $253.72 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.36 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $246.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $238.61. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $195.09 and a twelve month high of $277.13.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a return on equity of 16.51% and a net margin of 2.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $8.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 25.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.