Norges Bank Takes Position in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG

Norges Bank acquired a new position in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 325,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,544,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABG. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 116.4% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 10,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,572,000 after buying an additional 5,840 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 64.8% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 206 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC increased its stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 3,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Eisler Capital Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 312.0% in the 2nd quarter. Eisler Capital Management Ltd. now owns 33,858 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,073,000 after purchasing an additional 25,641 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in Asbury Automotive Group by 8.0% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 26,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,295,000 after purchasing an additional 1,954 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Asbury Automotive Group from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Stephens upgraded Asbury Automotive Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $275.00 to $251.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research note on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $250.57.

Asbury Automotive Group Price Performance

ABG stock opened at $234.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $235.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $238.75. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a one year low of $201.68 and a one year high of $312.56. The company has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of 8.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.88.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $7.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.80 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.84 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 15.26%. Asbury Automotive Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.35 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 26.28 EPS for the current fiscal 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.