Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) Short Interest Update

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,760,000 shares, a drop of 12.9% from the January 15th total of 2,020,000 shares. Currently, 9.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 184,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.5 days.

Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance

Shares of ABG stock traded up $3.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $303.01. The stock had a trading volume of 123,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 229,757. Asbury Automotive Group has a fifty-two week low of $202.98 and a fifty-two week high of $312.56. The firm has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a PE ratio of 14.09 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $261.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $246.30.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Craig Hallum upgraded shares of Asbury Automotive Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on shares of Asbury Automotive Group from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $264.00.

Institutional Trading of Asbury Automotive Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the 3rd quarter worth $804,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the 3rd quarter worth $1,223,000. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the 4th quarter worth $484,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the 4th quarter worth $221,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Asbury Automotive Group in the third quarter valued at about $154,270,000.

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.