Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. $ABG Shares Sold by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) by 88.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 960 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,170 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Asbury Automotive Group were worth $223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Abrams Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Asbury Automotive Group by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Abrams Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,155,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $526,910,000 after purchasing an additional 46,952 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,122,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,980,000 after purchasing an additional 18,154 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Asbury Automotive Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 781,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,659,000 after purchasing an additional 9,535 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Asbury Automotive Group in the fourth quarter worth $77,963,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 106.5% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 296,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,842,000 after purchasing an additional 152,669 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $242.00 price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $202.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Asbury Automotive Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Asbury Automotive Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $232.00.

Asbury Automotive Group Price Performance

Shares of ABG opened at $199.15 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.05, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $196.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.29. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $172.01 and a 12 month high of $274.50.

Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $5.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.62 by ($0.25). The company had revenue of $4.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.82 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. will post 25.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director B. Christopher Disantis acquired 157 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $182.31 per share, for a total transaction of $28,622.67. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 6,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,166,784. This represents a 2.51% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Asbury Automotive Group Profile

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.