Impactive capital execs sell over $4.8 million in Asbury Automotive stock By Investing.com

Executives at Impactive Capital, an investment management firm, have sold a significant portion of their holdings in Asbury (NYSE:) Automotive Group Inc (NYSE:ABG), a leading automotive retail and service company. The transactions, which took place on August 14 and 15, 2024, resulted in the sale of a total of 21,000 shares, netting over $4.8 million for the sellers.

The sales were executed at varying prices, with the shares sold on August 14 fetching an average price of $225.63 each, while the transactions on the following day saw shares going for an average of $232.50. The prices ranged from $225.63 to $232.53 per share, indicating a slight increase in the value of Asbury Automotive’s stock over the two-day period.

This move by the executives at Impactive Capital, including Managing Members Christian Asmar and Lauren Taylor Wolfe, comes as part of their investment strategy. The shares sold were held indirectly through funds managed by the firm, and the executives have disclaimed direct beneficial ownership of the reported securities, except to the extent of their pecuniary interest.

Following these transactions, the remaining holdings of Asbury Automotive stock by Impactive Capital LP and its affiliates amount to just over 1.9 million shares. The details of these transactions were outlined in a recent SEC filing, which also noted that the firm has delegated all voting and investment power over the securities to Impactive Capital as the investment manager.

Investors often keep a close eye on insider transactions as they can provide valuable insights into the executives’ perspective on the company’s current valuation and future prospects. The sale of Asbury Automotive shares by Impactive Capital’s executives is a notable development for shareholders and potential investors to consider.

In other recent news, Asbury Automotive Group is facing a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC alleges that three of Asbury’s Texas car dealerships engaged in discriminatory pricing practices against Black and Latino customers. The lawsuit accuses the dealerships of charging higher prices for add-on products and services, often without the customers’ consent. In other developments, despite a CDK outage that disrupted operations across most of its stores, Asbury reported record total revenue of $4.2 billion and record parts and service revenue of $581 million for the second quarter. Adjusted net income reached $236 million, with an adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $6.40. The company ended the quarter with solid liquidity, amounting to $806 million. These recent developments reflect the challenges and achievements of Asbury Automotive in the face of operational disruptions and legal actions.

InvestingPro Insights

As Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE:ABG) experiences insider sales from Impactive Capital executives, investors may find it useful to examine some key financial metrics and analyst insights to better understand the company’s current standing and future outlook. According to InvestingPro data, Asbury Automotive holds a market capitalization of approximately $4.6 billion, with a trailing twelve-month P/E ratio of 7.77, indicating a potentially undervalued stock relative to its earnings.

The company’s revenue growth has been positive, with a 6.9% increase over the last twelve months as of Q2 2024, and a more significant quarterly revenue growth of 13.46% in Q2 2024. Despite these growth figures, Asbury Automotive operates with a significant debt burden and weak gross profit margins of 17.75%, which could be a concern for investors considering the company’s financial leverage and profitability.

InvestingPro Tips for Asbury Automotive suggest that while analysts have revised their earnings downwards for the upcoming period, they still predict the company will be profitable this year. Additionally, the company has been profitable over the last twelve months and has shown a strong return over the last five years. However, it’s worth noting that Asbury does not pay a dividend to shareholders, which might influence the investment decisions of income-focused investors.

For those interested in a deeper analysis, there are additional InvestingPro Tips available at https://www.investing.com/pro/ABG, which can provide further insights into Asbury Automotive’s financial health and market position.

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