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28700.0 | 2022-02-04 00:00:00 UTC | Back to Value Investing Basics: The P/E Ratio | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/back-to-value-investing-basics%3A-the-p-e-ratio | nan | nan | (1:00) - Finding Strong Stocks Using Basic Value Metrics
(10:30 - Stock Screener Criteria: Tracey’s Top Stock Picks
(24:30) - Episode Roundup: KBH, MHO, BP, ABG, HZO, WGO
Podcast@Zacks.com
Welcome to Episode #267 of the Value Investor Podcast.
Every week, Tracey Ryniec, the editor of Zacks Value Investor portfolio, shares some of her top value investing tips and stock picks.
With so many new listeners to the Value Investor Podcast, Tracey decided to return back to the basics.
A value stock isn’t a value because it’s trading at $5. It’s a value because investors are getting its earnings for cheap.
What is the P/E Ratio?
The P/E ratio is often used by value investors as a basic screen. It is price of the stock divided by earnings.
The cheaper it is, the better. Most value investors look for a P/E of 15 or less.
A P/E o f 10 or less usually indicates a company is dirt cheap.
Screening for the P/E Ratio
Running a screen for the P/E ratio under 15 on Zacks.com, still gets you 793 stocks. That is too big of a list to be useful.
Adding the Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) or #2 (Buy) will get you companies with rising earnings estimates.
But that still gives a list of 199 stocks. That’s still a lot.
Lowering the P/E ratio all the way down to 7, which is dirt cheap, and including the Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), which is the top Zacks Rank, gets you 44 stocks.
5 Dirt Cheap Stocks with High Zacks Rank
1. BP BP
BP is a big oil company. Earnings are expected to rise 22% in 2022 to $4.61 from $3.77 last year as crude hits $90.
Remember, the oil companies had a rough time in 2020 as earnings went negative.
BP is cheap, with a forward P/E of 6.9, even though shares are up 20% year-to-date.
Energy was the best performing sector in 2021.
Is BP too hot to handle after the 2021 rally?
2. Asbury Automotive Group ABG
Asbury Automotive Group is an auto retailer. With both new and used auto demand sky-high during the pandemic, earnings have soared.
Asbury’s 2022 earnings are expected to jump another 16.6% to $29.83 from $25.58 in 2021.
These shares have been holding steady in 2022 as they’ve fallen just about 1% year-to-date after a big rally in 2021.
Yet, Asbury Automotive is still dirt cheap with a forward P/E of just 5.6.
Does Asbury Automotive Group have more room to run?
3. MarineMax, Inc. HZO
MarineMax is the world’s largest recreational boat and yacht retailer. It has 79 retail locations.
Consumers are still taking to the water as MarineMax recently reported record fiscal Q1 results with revenue up 15% to $472 million. Gross margins also expanded to a record 35% in the quarter even with industry-wide supply chain challenges.
The analysts are bullish, with 4 raising fiscal 2022 estimates in the last week. Earnings are expected to rise 16.2% year-over-year.
Yet MarineMax shares have fallen nearly 20% year-to-date.
And now it’s dirt cheap, with a forward P/E of just 6.
Why is the Street selling off MarineMax shares?
4. Winnebago WGO
Winnebago, the RV and boat manufacturer, recently showed an all-electric RV at the Florida Super Show.
5 estimates have been revised higher on Winnebago in the last 2 months pushing up the fiscal 2022 earnings consensus to $12.30 from $9.40 in that time period.
That’s earnings growth of 43% as Winnebago made just $8.55 the year before.
Winnebago is considered to be a pandemic winner as people wanted to be outdoors and wanted to hit the road. Sales of RVs have soared.
But the Street is getting nervous that this demand may fade.
Winnebago shares are down 10% year-to-date and are now dirt cheap, with a forward P/E of 5.5.
Is Winnebago a value trap or is it being overlooked?
5. Macy’s M
Macy’s was one of the hot retail stocks last year as consumers began buying apparel again.
One estimate has been revised higher for next fiscal year in the last month, but fiscal 2023 earnings are expected to decline 16% next year.
Shares have fallen 11% over the last 3 months.
Macy’s has been cheap since the coronavirus hit and now trades at 6.4x.
Are the analysts being too bearish on Macy’s fiscal 2023 outlook?
What Else Do You Need to Know about the P/E Ratio and Value Investing Basics?
Tune into this week’s podcast to find out.
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BP p.l.c. (BP): Free Stock Analysis Report
Macy's, Inc. (M): Free Stock Analysis Report
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report
MarineMax, Inc. (HZO): Free Stock Analysis Report
Winnebago Industries, Inc. (WGO): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | (1:00) - Finding Strong Stocks Using Basic Value Metrics (10:30 - Stock Screener Criteria: Tracey’s Top Stock Picks (24:30) - Episode Roundup: KBH, MHO, BP, ABG, HZO, WGO Podcast@Zacks.com Welcome to Episode #267 of the Value Investor Podcast. Asbury Automotive Group ABG Asbury Automotive Group is an auto retailer. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report | (1:00) - Finding Strong Stocks Using Basic Value Metrics (10:30 - Stock Screener Criteria: Tracey’s Top Stock Picks (24:30) - Episode Roundup: KBH, MHO, BP, ABG, HZO, WGO Podcast@Zacks.com Welcome to Episode #267 of the Value Investor Podcast. Asbury Automotive Group ABG Asbury Automotive Group is an auto retailer. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report | (1:00) - Finding Strong Stocks Using Basic Value Metrics (10:30 - Stock Screener Criteria: Tracey’s Top Stock Picks (24:30) - Episode Roundup: KBH, MHO, BP, ABG, HZO, WGO Podcast@Zacks.com Welcome to Episode #267 of the Value Investor Podcast. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group ABG Asbury Automotive Group is an auto retailer. | (1:00) - Finding Strong Stocks Using Basic Value Metrics (10:30 - Stock Screener Criteria: Tracey’s Top Stock Picks (24:30) - Episode Roundup: KBH, MHO, BP, ABG, HZO, WGO Podcast@Zacks.com Welcome to Episode #267 of the Value Investor Podcast. Asbury Automotive Group ABG Asbury Automotive Group is an auto retailer. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report |
28701.0 | 2022-02-03 00:00:00 UTC | 5 Stocks to Buy Following Recent Upgrade by Brokers | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/5-stocks-to-buy-following-recent-upgrade-by-brokers | nan | nan | It is not rare to see someone falter in life due to lack of proper guidance. The same is true for the investing world. The world of investment is full of uncertainties and unless one is well-prepared before entering the space, more often than not the person will have to suffer huge losses.
Choice of unsuitable stocks can adversely impact his/her returns, thereby ruining the very objective of investing the hard-earned money in the highly unpredictable stock market. Moreover, with time at a premium these days, it is next to impossible for investors to keep track of the market movements to identify opportune moment(s) for buying or offloading a particular stock to maximize returns. Therefore, guidance from precise channels is a must.
Time for Some Broker Advice
The experts in the investing world are brokers. Generally, three types of brokers (sell-side, buy-side and independent) are present in the investment world, with sell-side analysts being the most common. Various brokerage firms employ them to provide an unbiased opinion to investors on the stocks under their coverage after a thorough research. Buy-side analysts are employed by hedge funds, mutual funds etc. while the independent ones simply sell their reports to investors.
All types of brokers indulge in in-depth research of the stocks under their coverage. They have access to much detailed information on a company. To this end, they attend company conference calls/presentations and scrutinize every detail available publicly before advising investors. Naturally, broker advice acts as an invaluable guide for investors in their bid to garner the maximum from their portfolios.
Direction of Earnings Estimates: An Invaluable Guide
Since brokers meticulously follow the stocks in their coverage, they revise their earnings estimates after carefully examining the pros and cons of an event for the concerned company. The estimate revisions serve as an important pointer regarding the price of a stock.
For example, an earnings outperformance by a company generally leads to upward estimate revisions with prices moving north. Similarly, lackluster earnings often lead to a stock price depreciation. Investors tend to be guided by the direction of estimate revisions and stock price while formulating their investment strategy.
Making the Most of Broker Guidance
The above write-up clearly suggests that by following broker actions, one can arrive at a winning portfolio of stocks. Keeping this in mind, we designed a screen to shortlist stocks based on improving analyst recommendation and upward revisions in earnings estimates over the last four weeks.
Also, since the price/sales ratio is a strong complementary valuation metric in the presence of analyst information, it is also included. The price/sales ratio takes care of the company’s top line, making the strategy effective.
Screening Criteria
# (Up-Down Rating)/ Total (4 weeks) =Top #75:This gives the list of top 75 companies that have witnessed net upgrades over the last 4 weeks.
% change in Q (1) est. (4 weeks) = Top #10:This gives the top 10 stocks that have witnessed earnings estimate revisions over the past 4 weeks for the upcoming quarter.
Price-to-Sales = Bot%10:The lower the ratio, the better. Companies meeting this criterion are in the bottom 10% of our universe of over 7,700 stocks.
Price greater than 5:A stock trading below $5 will not likely be of significant interest to most investors.
Average Daily Volume greater than 100,000 shares over the last 20 trading days:Volume has to be significant to ensure that these are easily traded.
Market value ($ mil) = Top #3000:This gives us stocks that are the top 3000 in terms of market capitalization.
Here are five of the 10 stocks that passed the screen:
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings AAWW is the parent company of Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo, which together operate a fleet of freighter aircraft. AAWW is primarily involved in the airport-to-airport air transportation of heavy freight. AAWW is being supported by strong demand for air freight amid the coronavirus pandemic. The boom in e-commerce trends amid the current scenario is a catalyst.
Over the past 60 days, this presently Zacks #1 Ranked player has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 earnings being revised 8.1% upward. The stock has appreciated 52.2% in a year’s time. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
ArcBest Corporation ARCB currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). ARCB’s earnings trumped the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average being 31.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ARCB’s 2022 earnings has been revised 2% upward in the past 60 days.
Shares of ArcBest have skyrocketed 88.2% in a year’s time. Improving freight conditions in the United States bode well for ARCB. Solid customer demand and higher market rates are supporting ARCB.
Archer Daniels ADM: This Chicago, IL-based leading agricultural products company’s leadership in key global trends like flexitarian diets, nutrition and sustainable materials has been a steady contributor to its momentum for a while. ADM’s focus on making investments in assets and technological capabilities to serve customers efficiently is likely to be a key driver.
Archer Daniels’ Readiness program, positive cash flow and a solid performance at the Nutrition unit are constantly aiding results. ADM, currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1, continues to progress well on its three strategic pillars: optimize, drive and grow. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 earnings has been revised 12% upward over the past 60 days. Shares of ADM have soared 46% over the past year.
Cross Country Healthcare CCRN is currently benefiting from the pandemic-induced increase in demand for healthcare staffing, investments in headcount and technology, and higher operational effectiveness. Digital transformation and operational efficiency are enabling CCRN to cater to the continuously increasing demand in specialties, such as emergency room, operating room, labor, pediatrics, and delivery and medical-surgical services.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Cross Country Healthcare’s 2022 earnings has been revised 27.94% upward in the past 60 days. Shares of CCRN have skyrocketed more than 100% in a year’s time. CCRN currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1.
Asbury Automotive Group ABG is one of the largest automotive retailers in the United States. The auto dealer is currently a #1 Ranked player. With the sustained recovery of the economy from the pandemic blues, auto sales are rebounding, underlined by strong new vehicle sales. Evidently, demand for automotive products and services is solid, aiding Asbury in turn.
Asbury Automotive has an impressive surprise history with its earnings having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, the average being 24.3%. Shares of ABG have increased 12.6% in a year’s time.
You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.
The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.
Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today.
Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.
Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.
Just Released: Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2022
In addition to the investment ideas discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 top picks for the entirety of 2022?
From inception in 2012 through 2021, the Zacks Top 10 Stocks portfolios gained an impressive +1,001.2% versus the S&P 500’s +348.7%. Now our Director of Research has combed through 4,000 companies covered by the Zacks Rank and has handpicked the best 10 tickers to buy and hold. Don’t miss your chance to get in…because the sooner you do, the more upside you stand to grab.
See Stocks Now >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM): Free Stock Analysis Report
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report
Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (CCRN): Free Stock Analysis Report
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings (AAWW): Free Stock Analysis Report
ArcBest Corporation (ARCB): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Asbury Automotive Group ABG is one of the largest automotive retailers in the United States. Shares of ABG have increased 12.6% in a year’s time. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group ABG is one of the largest automotive retailers in the United States. Shares of ABG have increased 12.6% in a year’s time. | Asbury Automotive Group ABG is one of the largest automotive retailers in the United States. Shares of ABG have increased 12.6% in a year’s time. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report | Asbury Automotive Group ABG is one of the largest automotive retailers in the United States. Shares of ABG have increased 12.6% in a year’s time. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report |
28702.0 | 2022-02-03 00:00:00 UTC | Here's How Investors Can Find Strong Retail and Wholesale Stocks with the Zacks ESP Screener | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/heres-how-investors-can-find-strong-retail-and-wholesale-stocks-with-the-zacks-esp-17 | nan | nan | Earnings are arguably the most important single number on a company's quarterly financial report. Wall Street clearly dives into all of the other metrics and management's input, but the EPS figure helps cut through all the noise.
The earnings figure itself is key, of course, but a beat or miss on the bottom line can sometimes be just as, if not more, important. Therefore, investors should consider paying close attention to these earnings surprises, as a big beat can help a stock climb and vice versa.
Hunting for 'earnings whispers' or companies poised to beat their quarterly earnings estimates is a somewhat common practice. But that doesn't make it easy. One way that has been proven to work is by using the Zacks Earnings ESP tool.
The Zacks Earnings ESP, Explained
The Zacks Earnings ESP, or Expected Surprise Prediction, aims to find earnings surprises by focusing on the most recent analyst revisions. The basic premise is that if an analyst reevaluates their earnings estimate ahead of an earnings release, it means they likely have new information that could possibly be more accurate.
The core of the ESP model is comparing the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate, where the resulting percentage difference between the two equals the Expected Surprise Prediction. The Zacks Rank is also factored into the ESP metric to better help find companies that appear poised to top their next bottom-line consensus estimate, which will hopefully help lift the stock price.
Bringing together a positive earnings ESP alongside a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better has helped stocks report a positive earnings surprise 70% of the time. Furthermore, by using these parameters, investors have seen 28.3% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest.
Stocks with a ranking of #3 (Hold), or 60% of all stocks covered by the Zacks Rank, are expected to perform in-line with the broader market. Stocks with rankings of #2 (Buy) and #1 (Strong Buy), or the top 15% and top 5% of stocks, respectively, should outperform the market; Strong Buy stocks should outperform more than any other rank.
Should You Consider Asbury Automotive Group?
Now that we understand what the ESP is and how beneficial it can be, let's dive into a stock that currently fits the bill. Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) earns a #1 (Strong Buy) right now and its Most Accurate Estimate sits at $6.08 a share, just 12 days from its upcoming earnings release on February 15, 2022.
By taking the percentage difference between the $6.08 Most Accurate Estimate and the $5.87 Zacks Consensus Estimate, Asbury Automotive Group has an Earnings ESP of 3.48%. Investors should also know that ABG is just one of a large group of stocks with positive ESPs. All of these qualifying stocks can be filtered by ESP, Zacks Rank, % Surprise (Last Qtr.), and Reporting date.
Now that you know how to use the Zacks Earnings ESP to your advantage, make sure to check out the Earnings ESP Home Page for even more earnings related strategies to create a winning portfolio.
Find Stocks to Buy or Sell Before They're Reported
Use the Zacks Earnings ESP Filter to turn up stocks with the highest probability of positively, or negatively, surprising to buy or sell before they're reported for profitable earnings season trading. Check it out here >>
Just Released: Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2022
In addition to the investment ideas discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 top picks for the entirety of 2022?
From inception in 2012 through 2021, the Zacks Top 10 Stocks portfolios gained an impressive +1,001.2% versus the S&P 500’s +348.7%. Now our Director of Research has combed through 4,000 companies covered by the Zacks Rank and has handpicked the best 10 tickers to buy and hold. Don’t miss your chance to get in…because the sooner you do, the more upside you stand to grab.
See Stocks Now >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) earns a #1 (Strong Buy) right now and its Most Accurate Estimate sits at $6.08 a share, just 12 days from its upcoming earnings release on February 15, 2022. Investors should also know that ABG is just one of a large group of stocks with positive ESPs. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) earns a #1 (Strong Buy) right now and its Most Accurate Estimate sits at $6.08 a share, just 12 days from its upcoming earnings release on February 15, 2022. Investors should also know that ABG is just one of a large group of stocks with positive ESPs. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) earns a #1 (Strong Buy) right now and its Most Accurate Estimate sits at $6.08 a share, just 12 days from its upcoming earnings release on February 15, 2022. Investors should also know that ABG is just one of a large group of stocks with positive ESPs. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) earns a #1 (Strong Buy) right now and its Most Accurate Estimate sits at $6.08 a share, just 12 days from its upcoming earnings release on February 15, 2022. Investors should also know that ABG is just one of a large group of stocks with positive ESPs. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report |
28703.0 | 2022-02-02 00:00:00 UTC | Match Group (MTCH) Posts Q4 Earnings Loss, Sees Revenue Rise Y/Y | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/match-group-mtch-posts-q4-earnings-loss-sees-revenue-rise-y-y | nan | nan | Match Group MTCH reported a fourth-quarter 2021 loss of 60 cents per share against earnings of 50 cents reported in the year-ago quarter.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter 2021 earnings was pegged at 64 cents per share.
Revenues of $806 million increased 24% year over year but lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $819 million.
Excluding the forex, the top line increased 26% year over year to $817.9 million.
Activity and engagement across all brands have been high since the COVID-19 outbreak. However, Match Group noted that some countries in Asia like Japan, which are important markets, were witnessing a slow COVID recovery. Also, the emergence of the new variant Omnicron reduced mobility in many markets starting early December.
Match Group Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Match Group Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Match Group Inc. Quote
Quarter in Detail
In the fourth quarter, the number of total payers increased 15% to 16.2 million. The number of total payers from the Americas, Europe, and the Asia Pacific (APAC) and Other increased 10%, 10% and 36%, respectively, on a year-over-year basis.
Total revenue per payer (RPP) increased 8% year over year to $16.16 million. Region-wise, RPP from the Americas, Europe, and APAC and Other increased 10%, 6% and 7%, respectively.
Direct revenues from the Americas were up 21% to $399.8 million. Direct revenues from Europe increased 16% to $218.5 million, while APAC and Other reported a 46% surge in direct revenues to $169.3 million.
Direct revenues from Tinder jumped 23% year over year. The total number of payers for Tinder rose 18% year over year to 10.6 million, while Tinder RPP increased 4% in the fourth quarter.
Direct revenues from non-Tinder brands collectively increased 26% on a year-over-year basis. Non-Tinder brands witnessed 9% growth in the total number of payers to 5.7 million as well as a 16% increase in RPP.
Operating Details
Total operating costs and expenses increased 31% year over year to $574.153 million in the fourth quarter. The upside can be attributed to the increased cost of revenues, selling and marketing expenses, product development, and general and administrative expenses.
As a percentage of revenues, total operating costs and expenses expanded 400 bps year over year to 71% in the reported quarter.
Adjusted operating income was $290 million, up 18% year over year. Adjusted operating margin contracted 200 basis points (bps) year over year to 36%.
Balance Sheet
As of Dec 31, 2021, Match Group had cash and cash equivalent balance of $815.38 million compared with $523.2 million as of Sep 30.
As of Dec 31, 2021, Match Group had a long-term debt of $3.829 billion compared with $3.848 billion as of Sep 30, 2021.
As of Dec 31, 2021, Match Group reported $1.3 billion of exchangeable senior notes and $750 million under its revolving credit facility. The amount was undrawn as of Dec 31.
Guidance
Match Group expects first-quarter 2022 revenues to be $790-$800 million, indicating 18-20% growth from the prior-year quarter’s reported number. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is currently pegged at $818.82 million.
Adjusted operating income for the first quarter is anticipated to be $260-$265 million.
For 2022, Match Group expects revenues to grow 15-20% from the year-earlier quarter’s reported figure. Revenues from HyperConnect are expected to grow 0.5-1%.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Currently, Match Group has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Match Group’s shares have tumbled 18.8% compared with the Zacks Retail and Wholesale sector’s fall of 21.3% in the past year.
Sonic Automotive SAH, Asbury Automotive Group ABG and MYT Netherlands Parent MYTE are some of the better-ranked stocks that investors can consider in the broader sector. Sonic Automotive and Asbury Automotive sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. MYT Netherlands Parent currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Sonic Automotive’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Retail and Wholesale sector in the past year. SAH has returned 21%.
SAH is expected to report fourth-quarter 2021 results on Feb 16, 2022.
Asbury Automotive Group’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Retail and Wholesale sector in the past year. The stock has rallied 14.6%.
ABG is slated to report fourth-quarter 2021 results on Feb 15.
MYT Netherlands Parent’s shares have slumped 49% in the past year.
MYTE is scheduled to report second-quarter fiscal 2022 results on Feb 16.
Just Released: Zacks' 7 Best Stocks for Today
Experts extracted 7 stocks from the list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys that has beaten the market more than 2X over with a stunning average gain of +25.3% per year.
These 7 were selected because of their superior potential for immediate breakout.
See these time-sensitive tickers now >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Sonic Automotive, Inc. (SAH): Free Stock Analysis Report
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report
Match Group Inc. (MTCH): Free Stock Analysis Report
MYT Netherlands Parent B.V. Sponsored ADR (MYTE): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Sonic Automotive SAH, Asbury Automotive Group ABG and MYT Netherlands Parent MYTE are some of the better-ranked stocks that investors can consider in the broader sector. ABG is slated to report fourth-quarter 2021 results on Feb 15. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report | Sonic Automotive SAH, Asbury Automotive Group ABG and MYT Netherlands Parent MYTE are some of the better-ranked stocks that investors can consider in the broader sector. ABG is slated to report fourth-quarter 2021 results on Feb 15. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report | Sonic Automotive SAH, Asbury Automotive Group ABG and MYT Netherlands Parent MYTE are some of the better-ranked stocks that investors can consider in the broader sector. ABG is slated to report fourth-quarter 2021 results on Feb 15. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report | Sonic Automotive SAH, Asbury Automotive Group ABG and MYT Netherlands Parent MYTE are some of the better-ranked stocks that investors can consider in the broader sector. ABG is slated to report fourth-quarter 2021 results on Feb 15. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report |
28704.0 | 2022-01-31 00:00:00 UTC | Bank on Rising P/E Investing With These 5 Top-Ranked Stocks | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/bank-on-rising-p-e-investing-with-these-5-top-ranked-stocks | nan | nan | Investors love stocks with a low price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. The perception is that the lower the P/E, the higher will be the value of the stock. The simple logic that a stock’s current market price does not justify (is not equivalent to) its higher earnings and therefore has room to run is behind investors’ inclination toward low P/E stocks.
But stocks with a rising P/E can be equally worth buying. We’ll tell you why.
Why Rising P/E a Valuable Tool?
Investors should note that stock price moves in tandem with earnings performance. If earnings come in stronger, the price of a stock shoots up. Solid quarterly earnings and the forward guidance boost earnings forecasts, leading to stronger demand for the stock and an uptrend in its price.
So, if the price is rising steadily, it means that investors are assured of the stock’s fundamental strength and expect some strong positives out of it. Suppose an investor wants to buy a stock with a P/E ratio of 30, it means that he is willing to shell out $30 for only $1 worth of earnings. This is because the investor expects earnings of the company to rise at a faster pace in the future on the back of strong fundamentals.
Also, studies have revealed that stocks have seen their P/E ratios jump over 100% from their breakout point in the cycle. So, if you can pick stocks early in their breakout cycle, you can end up seeing considerable gains.
The Winning Strategy
In order to shortlist stocks that are exhibiting an increasing P/E, we chose the following as our primary screening parameters.
EPS growth estimate for the current year is greater than or equal to last year’s actual growth
Percentage change in last year EPS should be greater than or equal to zero
(These two criteria point to flat earnings or a growth trend over the years.)
Percentage change in price over four weeks greater than the percentage change in price over 12 weeks
Percentage change in price over 12 weeks greater than percentage change in price over 24 weeks
(These two criteria show that price of the stock is increasing consistently over the said timeframes.)
Percentage price change for four weeks relative to the S&P 500 greater than the percentage price change for 12 weeks relative to the S&P 500
Percentage price change for 12 weeks relative to the S&P 500 greater than the percentage price change for 24 weeks relative to the S&P 500
(Here, the case for consistent price gains gets even stronger as it displays percentage price changes relative to the S&P 500.)
Percentage price change for 12 weeks is 20% higher than or equal to the percentage price change for 24 weeks, but it should not exceed 100%
(A 20% increase in the price of a stock from the breakout point gives cues of an impending uptrend. But a jump of over 100% indicates that there is limited scope for further upside and that the stock might be due for a reversal.)
In addition, we place a few other criteria that lead us to some likely outperformers.
Zacks Rank equals to 1: Only companies with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) can get through.
Average 20-day Volume greater than or equal to 50,000: High trading volume implies that the stocks have adequate liquidity.
Just these few criteria narrowed down the universe from over 7,700 stocks to 47.
Here are five out of 47 stocks:
MEDIFAST MED: Medifast, Inc. (MED) has become a remarkable direct-selling company in the industry. The Zacks Rank #2 company is also known for its leading health and wellness community — OPTAVIA — which provides Lifelong Transformation and One Healthy Habit at a Time lifestyle solutions. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The last four-quarter earnings surprise of MED is 17.28%.
JAKKS Pacific JAKK: The Zacks Rank #1 JAKKS Pacific is a multi-brand company that has been designing and marketing a broad range of toys and consumer products since 1995.
The last four-quarter earnings surprise of MED is 48.89%.
Asbury Automotive Group ABG: The Zacks Rank #1 company is one of the largest automotive retailers.
The last four-quarter earnings surprise of ABG is 24.33%.
Zymeworks ZYME: The Zacks Rank #2 company is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company.
The last four-quarter earnings surprise of ZYME is 6.01%.
Polaris PII: This Zacks Rank #2 company designs, engineers and manufactures off-road and on-road vehicles.
The last four-quarter earnings surprise of PII is 18.86%.
You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.
The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.
Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today.
Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.
Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.
Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double"
From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.
As one investor put it, “curing and preventing hundreds of diseases…what should that market be worth?” This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.
Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
JAKKS Pacific, Inc. (JAKK): Free Stock Analysis Report
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report
Polaris Inc. (PII): Free Stock Analysis Report
MEDIFAST INC (MED): Free Stock Analysis Report
Zymeworks Inc. (ZYME): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Asbury Automotive Group ABG: The Zacks Rank #1 company is one of the largest automotive retailers. The last four-quarter earnings surprise of ABG is 24.33%. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group ABG: The Zacks Rank #1 company is one of the largest automotive retailers. The last four-quarter earnings surprise of ABG is 24.33%. | Asbury Automotive Group ABG: The Zacks Rank #1 company is one of the largest automotive retailers. The last four-quarter earnings surprise of ABG is 24.33%. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report | Asbury Automotive Group ABG: The Zacks Rank #1 company is one of the largest automotive retailers. The last four-quarter earnings surprise of ABG is 24.33%. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report |
28705.0 | 2022-01-28 00:00:00 UTC | Best Value Stocks to Buy for January 28th | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/best-value-stocks-to-buy-for-january-28th | nan | nan | Here are three stocks with buy rank and strong value characteristics for investors to consider today, January 28th:
Asbury Automotive Group ABG: This one of the largest automotive retailers carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.4% over the last 60 days.
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Price and Consensus
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote
Asbury Automotive Group has a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 5.42, compared with 7.00 for the industry. The company possesses a Value Score of A.
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. PE Ratio (TTM)
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. pe-ratio-ttm | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote
OneWater Marine ONEW: This premium recreational boat retailers principally in the United States carries a Zacks Rank #1, and has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 2.9% over the last 60 days.
OneWater Marine Inc. Price and Consensus
OneWater Marine Inc. price-consensus-chart | OneWater Marine Inc. Quote
OneWater Marine has a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 5.88, compared with 32.10 for the industry. The company possesses a Value Score of A.
OneWater Marine Inc. PE Ratio (TTM)
OneWater Marine Inc. pe-ratio-ttm | OneWater Marine Inc. Quote
Lennar LEN: This company engaged in homebuilding and financial services in the United States carries a Zacks Rank #1, and has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 5.5% over the last 60 days.
Lennar Corporation Price and Consensus
Lennar Corporation price-consensus-chart | Lennar Corporation Quote
Lennar has a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 5.89, compared with 7.00 for the industry. The company possesses a Value Score of A.
Lennar Corporation PE Ratio (TTM)
Lennar Corporation pe-ratio-ttm | Lennar Corporation Quote
See the full list of top ranked stocks here.
Learn more about the Value score and how it is calculated here.
Infrastructure Stock Boom to Sweep America
A massive push to rebuild the crumbling U.S. infrastructure will soon be underway. It’s bipartisan, urgent, and inevitable. Trillions will be spent. Fortunes will be made.
The only question is “Will you get into the right stocks early when their growth potential is greatest?”
Zacks has released a Special Report to help you do just that, and today it’s free. Discover 7 special companies that look to gain the most from construction and repair to roads, bridges, and buildings, plus cargo hauling and energy transformation on an almost unimaginable scale.
Download FREE: How to Profit from Trillions on Spending for Infrastructure >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Lennar Corporation (LEN): Free Stock Analysis Report
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report
OneWater Marine Inc. (ONEW): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Here are three stocks with buy rank and strong value characteristics for investors to consider today, January 28th: Asbury Automotive Group ABG: This one of the largest automotive retailers carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.4% over the last 60 days. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report The only question is “Will you get into the right stocks early when their growth potential is greatest?” Zacks has released a Special Report to help you do just that, and today it’s free. | Here are three stocks with buy rank and strong value characteristics for investors to consider today, January 28th: Asbury Automotive Group ABG: This one of the largest automotive retailers carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.4% over the last 60 days. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Price and Consensus Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote Asbury Automotive Group has a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 5.42, compared with 7.00 for the industry. | Here are three stocks with buy rank and strong value characteristics for investors to consider today, January 28th: Asbury Automotive Group ABG: This one of the largest automotive retailers carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.4% over the last 60 days. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Price and Consensus Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote Asbury Automotive Group has a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 5.42, compared with 7.00 for the industry. | Here are three stocks with buy rank and strong value characteristics for investors to consider today, January 28th: Asbury Automotive Group ABG: This one of the largest automotive retailers carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.4% over the last 60 days. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report The company possesses a Value Score of A. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. PE Ratio (TTM) Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. pe-ratio-ttm | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote OneWater Marine ONEW: This premium recreational boat retailers principally in the United States carries a Zacks Rank #1, and has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 2.9% over the last 60 days. |
28706.0 | 2022-01-28 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-group-abg-gains-but-lags-market%3A-what-you-should-know-1 | nan | nan | In the latest trading session, Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) closed at $156.90, marking a +1.27% move from the previous day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 2.44%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 1.65%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.28%.
Coming into today, shares of the auto dealership chain had lost 8.91% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector lost 13.11%, while the S&P 500 lost 9.65%.
Asbury Automotive Group will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 15, 2022. On that day, Asbury Automotive Group is projected to report earnings of $5.87 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 32.21%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $2.45 billion, up 9.49% from the year-ago period.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Asbury Automotive Group. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 21.35% higher. Asbury Automotive Group is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Investors should also note Asbury Automotive Group's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 5.19. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 7.1.
It is also worth noting that ABG currently has a PEG ratio of 0.28. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. ABG's industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.35 as of yesterday's close.
The Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 8, which puts it in the top 4% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
To follow ABG in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
Infrastructure Stock Boom to Sweep America
A massive push to rebuild the crumbling U.S. infrastructure will soon be underway. It’s bipartisan, urgent, and inevitable. Trillions will be spent. Fortunes will be made.
The only question is “Will you get into the right stocks early when their growth potential is greatest?”
Zacks has released a Special Report to help you do just that, and today it’s free. Discover 7 special companies that look to gain the most from construction and repair to roads, bridges, and buildings, plus cargo hauling and energy transformation on an almost unimaginable scale.
Download FREE: How to Profit from Trillions on Spending for Infrastructure >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | In the latest trading session, Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) closed at $156.90, marking a +1.27% move from the previous day. It is also worth noting that ABG currently has a PEG ratio of 0.28. ABG's industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.35 as of yesterday's close. | In the latest trading session, Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) closed at $156.90, marking a +1.27% move from the previous day. It is also worth noting that ABG currently has a PEG ratio of 0.28. ABG's industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.35 as of yesterday's close. | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report In the latest trading session, Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) closed at $156.90, marking a +1.27% move from the previous day. It is also worth noting that ABG currently has a PEG ratio of 0.28. | In the latest trading session, Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) closed at $156.90, marking a +1.27% move from the previous day. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report It is also worth noting that ABG currently has a PEG ratio of 0.28. |
28707.0 | 2022-01-28 00:00:00 UTC | New Strong Buy Stocks for January 28th | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/new-strong-buy-stocks-for-january-28th | nan | nan | Here are five stocks added to the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) List today:
Asbury Automotive Group ABG: This company which is one of the largest automotive retailers has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.4% over the last 60 days.
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Price and Consensus
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote
General Motors GM: This company which is one of the world’s largest automakers has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 3.4% over the last 60 days.
General Motors Company Price and Consensus
General Motors Company price-consensus-chart | General Motors Company Quote
Lennar LEN: This company engaged in homebuilding and financial services in the United States has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 5.5% over the last 60 days.
Lennar Corporation Price and Consensus
Lennar Corporation price-consensus-chart | Lennar Corporation Quote
OneWater Marine ONEW: This premium recreational boat retailers principally in the United States has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 2.9% over the last 60 days.
OneWater Marine Inc. Price and Consensus
OneWater Marine Inc. price-consensus-chart | OneWater Marine Inc. Quote
Raymond James Financial RJF: This diversified financial services company has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 3.2% over the last 60 days.
Raymond James Financial, Inc. Price and Consensus
Raymond James Financial, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Raymond James Financial, Inc. Quote
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Infrastructure Stock Boom to Sweep America
A massive push to rebuild the crumbling U.S. infrastructure will soon be underway. It’s bipartisan, urgent, and inevitable. Trillions will be spent. Fortunes will be made.
The only question is “Will you get into the right stocks early when their growth potential is greatest?”
Zacks has released a Special Report to help you do just that, and today it’s free. Discover 7 special companies that look to gain the most from construction and repair to roads, bridges, and buildings, plus cargo hauling and energy transformation on an almost unimaginable scale.
Download FREE: How to Profit from Trillions on Spending for Infrastructure >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
General Motors Company (GM): Free Stock Analysis Report
Lennar Corporation (LEN): Free Stock Analysis Report
Raymond James Financial, Inc. (RJF): Free Stock Analysis Report
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report
OneWater Marine Inc. (ONEW): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Here are five stocks added to the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) List today: Asbury Automotive Group ABG: This company which is one of the largest automotive retailers has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.4% over the last 60 days. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report The only question is “Will you get into the right stocks early when their growth potential is greatest?” Zacks has released a Special Report to help you do just that, and today it’s free. | Here are five stocks added to the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) List today: Asbury Automotive Group ABG: This company which is one of the largest automotive retailers has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.4% over the last 60 days. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Price and Consensus Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote General Motors GM: This company which is one of the world’s largest automakers has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 3.4% over the last 60 days. | Here are five stocks added to the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) List today: Asbury Automotive Group ABG: This company which is one of the largest automotive retailers has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.4% over the last 60 days. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Price and Consensus Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote General Motors GM: This company which is one of the world’s largest automakers has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 3.4% over the last 60 days. | Here are five stocks added to the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) List today: Asbury Automotive Group ABG: This company which is one of the largest automotive retailers has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.4% over the last 60 days. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report Download FREE: How to Profit from Trillions on Spending for Infrastructure >> |
28708.0 | 2022-01-26 00:00:00 UTC | Should Value Investors Buy These Retail-Wholesale Stocks? | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/should-value-investors-buy-these-retail-wholesale-stocks-1 | nan | nan | The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong picks.
Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader market. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.
In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.
One company to watch right now is Asbury Automotive Group (ABG). ABG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 5.79, while its industry has an average P/E of 6.59. Over the last 12 months, ABG's Forward P/E has been as high as 174.50 and as low as 5.39, with a median of 9.88.
Investors should also note that ABG holds a PEG ratio of 0.31. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. ABG's industry currently sports an average PEG of 0.34. Within the past year, ABG's PEG has been as high as 9.42 and as low as 0.29, with a median of 0.53.
Finally, investors should note that ABG has a P/CF ratio of 6.03. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 9.98. Over the past 52 weeks, ABG's P/CF has been as high as 12.40 and as low as 5.63, with a median of 7.77.
Investors could also keep in mind Lithia Motors (LAD), an Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales stock with a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) and Value grade of A.
Lithia Motors is currently trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 8.25 while its PEG ratio sits at 0.39. Both of the company's metrics compare favorably to its industry's average P/E of 6.59 and average PEG ratio of 0.34.
LAD's Forward P/E has been as high as 19.87 and as low as 7.58, with a median of 13.07. During the same time period, its PEG ratio has been as high as 0.89, as low as 0.36, with a median of 0.50.
Furthermore, Lithia Motors holds a P/B ratio of 2.04 and its industry's price-to-book ratio is 2.39. LAD's P/B has been as high as 4.12, as low as 1.86, with a median of 2.60 over the past 12 months.
Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Asbury Automotive Group and Lithia Motors are likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, ABG and LAD sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.
Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double"
From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.
As one investor put it, “curing and preventing hundreds of diseases…what should that market be worth?” This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.
Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report
Lithia Motors, Inc. (LAD): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | One company to watch right now is Asbury Automotive Group (ABG). ABG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. Over the last 12 months, ABG's Forward P/E has been as high as 174.50 and as low as 5.39, with a median of 9.88. | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report One company to watch right now is Asbury Automotive Group (ABG). ABG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. | One company to watch right now is Asbury Automotive Group (ABG). ABG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. Over the last 12 months, ABG's Forward P/E has been as high as 174.50 and as low as 5.39, with a median of 9.88. | One company to watch right now is Asbury Automotive Group (ABG). ABG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. Over the last 12 months, ABG's Forward P/E has been as high as 174.50 and as low as 5.39, with a median of 9.88. |
28709.0 | 2022-01-21 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) Stock Moves -0.06%: What You Should Know | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-group-abg-stock-moves-0.06%3A-what-you-should-know | nan | nan | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) closed the most recent trading day at $157.25, moving -0.06% from the previous trading session. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.89%. At the same time, the Dow lost 1.3%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.17%.
Heading into today, shares of the auto dealership chain had lost 4.3% over the past month, outpacing the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 6.12% and lagging the S&P 500's loss of 1.79% in that time.
Asbury Automotive Group will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 15, 2022. The company is expected to report EPS of $6, up 35.14% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $2.41 billion, up 8.07% from the year-ago period.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Asbury Automotive Group should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.07% higher. Asbury Automotive Group is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Investors should also note Asbury Automotive Group's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 5.38. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 7.21.
Also, we should mention that ABG has a PEG ratio of 0.29. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales was holding an average PEG ratio of 0.36 at yesterday's closing price.
The Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 9, which puts it in the top 4% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
To follow ABG in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
Infrastructure Stock Boom to Sweep America
A massive push to rebuild the crumbling U.S. infrastructure will soon be underway. It’s bipartisan, urgent, and inevitable. Trillions will be spent. Fortunes will be made.
The only question is “Will you get into the right stocks early when their growth potential is greatest?”
Zacks has released a Special Report to help you do just that, and today it’s free. Discover 7 special companies that look to gain the most from construction and repair to roads, bridges, and buildings, plus cargo hauling and energy transformation on an almost unimaginable scale.
Download FREE: How to Profit from Trillions on Spending for Infrastructure >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) closed the most recent trading day at $157.25, moving -0.06% from the previous trading session. Also, we should mention that ABG has a PEG ratio of 0.29. To follow ABG in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com. | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) closed the most recent trading day at $157.25, moving -0.06% from the previous trading session. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report Also, we should mention that ABG has a PEG ratio of 0.29. | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) closed the most recent trading day at $157.25, moving -0.06% from the previous trading session. Also, we should mention that ABG has a PEG ratio of 0.29. | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) closed the most recent trading day at $157.25, moving -0.06% from the previous trading session. Also, we should mention that ABG has a PEG ratio of 0.29. |
28710.0 | 2022-01-17 00:00:00 UTC | Should You Be Adding Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) To Your Watchlist Today? | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/should-you-be-adding-asbury-automotive-group-nyse%3Aabg-to-your-watchlist-today | nan | nan | Some have more dollars than sense, they say, so even companies that have no revenue, no profit, and a record of falling short, can easily find investors. But the reality is that when a company loses money each year, for long enough, its investors will usually take their share of those losses.
In contrast to all that, I prefer to spend time on companies like Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG), which has not only revenues, but also profits. While that doesn't make the shares worth buying at any price, you can't deny that successful capitalism requires profit, eventually. While a well funded company may sustain losses for years, unless its owners have an endless appetite for subsidizing the customer, it will need to generate a profit eventually, or else breathe its last breath.
How Quickly Is Asbury Automotive Group Increasing Earnings Per Share?
If a company can keep growing earnings per share (EPS) long enough, its share price will eventually follow. It's no surprise, then, that I like to invest in companies with EPS growth. Impressively, Asbury Automotive Group has grown EPS by 36% per year, compound, in the last three years. As a general rule, we'd say that if a company can keep up that sort of growth, shareholders will be smiling.
One way to double-check a company's growth is to look at how its revenue, and earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margins are changing. I note that Asbury Automotive Group's revenue from operations was lower than its revenue in the last twelve months, so that could distort my analysis of its margins. The good news is that Asbury Automotive Group is growing revenues, and EBIT margins improved by 2.0 percentage points to 7.3%, over the last year. Ticking those two boxes is a good sign of growth, in my book.
You can take a look at the company's revenue and earnings growth trend, in the chart below. Click on the chart to see the exact numbers.
NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue History January 17th 2022
The trick, as an investor, is to find companies that are going to perform well in the future, not just in the past. To that end, right now and today, you can check our visualization of consensus analyst forecasts for future Asbury Automotive Group EPS 100% free.
Are Asbury Automotive Group Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?
I like company leaders to have some skin in the game, so to speak, because it increases alignment of incentives between the people running the business, and its true owners. So it is good to see that Asbury Automotive Group insiders have a significant amount of capital invested in the stock. Indeed, they hold US$26m worth of its stock. That's a lot of money, and no small incentive to work hard. Even though that's only about 0.7% of the company, it's enough money to indicate alignment between the leaders of the business and ordinary shareholders.
Is Asbury Automotive Group Worth Keeping An Eye On?
For growth investors like me, Asbury Automotive Group's raw rate of earnings growth is a beacon in the night. I think that EPS growth is something to boast of, and it doesn't surprise me that insiders are holding on to a considerable chunk of shares. So this is very likely the kind of business that I like to spend time researching, with a view to discerning its true value. You still need to take note of risks, for example - Asbury Automotive Group has 3 warning signs we think you should be aware of.
Although Asbury Automotive Group certainly looks good to me, I would like it more if insiders were buying up shares. If you like to see insider buying, too, then this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying, could be exactly what you're looking for.
Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue History January 17th 2022 The trick, as an investor, is to find companies that are going to perform well in the future, not just in the past. In contrast to all that, I prefer to spend time on companies like Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG), which has not only revenues, but also profits. I like company leaders to have some skin in the game, so to speak, because it increases alignment of incentives between the people running the business, and its true owners. | In contrast to all that, I prefer to spend time on companies like Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG), which has not only revenues, but also profits. NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue History January 17th 2022 The trick, as an investor, is to find companies that are going to perform well in the future, not just in the past. If a company can keep growing earnings per share (EPS) long enough, its share price will eventually follow. | In contrast to all that, I prefer to spend time on companies like Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG), which has not only revenues, but also profits. NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue History January 17th 2022 The trick, as an investor, is to find companies that are going to perform well in the future, not just in the past. For growth investors like me, Asbury Automotive Group's raw rate of earnings growth is a beacon in the night. | In contrast to all that, I prefer to spend time on companies like Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG), which has not only revenues, but also profits. NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue History January 17th 2022 The trick, as an investor, is to find companies that are going to perform well in the future, not just in the past. You can take a look at the company's revenue and earnings growth trend, in the chart below. |
28711.0 | 2022-01-13 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-group-abg-gains-as-market-dips%3A-what-you-should-know-0 | nan | nan | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) closed at $167.37 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.38% move from the prior day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.42%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.49%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.47%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the auto dealership chain had lost 3.66% over the past month. This has was narrower than the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 3.85% and lagged the S&P 500's gain of 0.39% in that time.
Asbury Automotive Group will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect Asbury Automotive Group to post earnings of $5.96 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 34.23%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $2.41 billion, up 7.76% from the year-ago period.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Asbury Automotive Group. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.95% higher. Asbury Automotive Group is holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) right now.
Looking at its valuation, Asbury Automotive Group is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 5.7. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 7.61.
We can also see that ABG currently has a PEG ratio of 0.31. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 0.37 as of yesterday's close.
The Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 5, which puts it in the top 2% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) closed at $167.37 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.38% move from the prior day. We can also see that ABG currently has a PEG ratio of 0.31. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) closed at $167.37 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.38% move from the prior day. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report We can also see that ABG currently has a PEG ratio of 0.31. | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) closed at $167.37 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.38% move from the prior day. We can also see that ABG currently has a PEG ratio of 0.31. | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) closed at $167.37 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.38% move from the prior day. We can also see that ABG currently has a PEG ratio of 0.31. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report |
28712.0 | 2021-12-25 00:00:00 UTC | What Is Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.'s (NYSE:ABG) Share Price Doing? | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/what-is-asbury-automotive-group-inc.s-nyse%3Aabg-share-price-doing | nan | nan | While Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) might not be the most widely known stock at the moment, it received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the NYSE over the last few months, increasing to US$230 at one point, and dropping to the lows of US$159. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether Asbury Automotive Group's current trading price of US$164 reflective of the actual value of the mid-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Let’s take a look at Asbury Automotive Group’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.
Is Asbury Automotive Group still cheap?
The share price seems sensible at the moment according to my price multiple model, where I compare the company's price-to-earnings ratio to the industry average. In this instance, I’ve used the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio given that there is not enough information to reliably forecast the stock’s cash flows. I find that Asbury Automotive Group’s ratio of 7.91x is trading slightly below its industry peers’ ratio of 8.67x, which means if you buy Asbury Automotive Group today, you’d be paying a decent price for it. And if you believe Asbury Automotive Group should be trading in this range, then there isn’t much room for the share price to grow beyond the levels of other industry peers over the long-term. Although, there may be an opportunity to buy in the future. This is because Asbury Automotive Group’s beta (a measure of share price volatility) is high, meaning its price movements will be exaggerated relative to the rest of the market. If the market is bearish, the company’s shares will likely fall by more than the rest of the market, providing a prime buying opportunity.
What kind of growth will Asbury Automotive Group generate?
NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue Growth December 25th 2021
Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so let’s also take a look at the company's future expectations. Asbury Automotive Group's earnings over the next few years are expected to increase by 40%, indicating a highly optimistic future ahead. This should lead to more robust cash flows, feeding into a higher share value.
What this means for you:
Are you a shareholder? ABG’s optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around industry price multiples. However, there are also other important factors which we haven’t considered today, such as the financial strength of the company. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at ABG? Will you have enough conviction to buy should the price fluctuate below the industry PE ratio?
Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on ABG, now may not be the most advantageous time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the optimistic forecast is encouraging for ABG, which means it’s worth further examining other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.
With this in mind, we wouldn't consider investing in a stock unless we had a thorough understanding of the risks. You'd be interested to know, that we found 3 warning signs for Asbury Automotive Group and you'll want to know about these.
If you are no longer interested in Asbury Automotive Group, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | However, the optimistic forecast is encouraging for ABG, which means it’s worth further examining other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop. While Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) might not be the most widely known stock at the moment, it received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the NYSE over the last few months, increasing to US$230 at one point, and dropping to the lows of US$159. NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue Growth December 25th 2021 Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. | ABG’s optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around industry price multiples. While Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) might not be the most widely known stock at the moment, it received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the NYSE over the last few months, increasing to US$230 at one point, and dropping to the lows of US$159. NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue Growth December 25th 2021 Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. | ABG’s optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around industry price multiples. While Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) might not be the most widely known stock at the moment, it received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the NYSE over the last few months, increasing to US$230 at one point, and dropping to the lows of US$159. NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue Growth December 25th 2021 Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. | ABG’s optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around industry price multiples. While Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) might not be the most widely known stock at the moment, it received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the NYSE over the last few months, increasing to US$230 at one point, and dropping to the lows of US$159. NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue Growth December 25th 2021 Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. |
28713.0 | 2021-12-10 00:00:00 UTC | EU watchdog fines Abengoa $22.5 mln for ethanol benchmark rigging | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/eu-watchdog-fines-abengoa-%2422.5-mln-for-ethanol-benchmark-rigging | nan | nan | By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS, Dec 10 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators fined Spain's Abengoa ABG.MC 20 million euros ($22.5 million) on Friday for rigging ethanol benchmarks as part of a crackdown on such practices.
The European Commission has levied billion-euro fines in recent years, with regulators on both sides of the Atlantic acting against banks for manipulating financial benchmarks.
It had been investigating Abengoa, Belgian peer Alcogroup and Swedish company Lantmannen on possible rigging of ethanol benchmarks, which are published by energy and commodities information provider S&P Global Platts.
The European Union's competition watchdog said Spanish engineering and energy group Abengoa admitted taking part in a cartel from September 2011 to May 2014 and agreed to settle for a reduction in the fine.
The Commission said Abengoa coordinated its trading behaviour with other companies. It did not name the companies but said investigations were still ongoing.
"Abengoa's aim was to artificially increase, maintain and/or prevent from decreasing the levels of Platts' ethanol benchmarks. Abengoa also limited the supply of ethanol delivered to the Rotterdam area," the Commission said in a statement.
Abengoa said regulators did a detailed analysis of its financial situation and viability plans and agreed to a substantial cut in the fine, with a structured payment plan distributed over several years.
"The fine, which is lower than the amount provided for in the company's viability plans, does not compromise the restructuring and viability plans currently underway," the company said in a statement.
Alcogroup and Lantmannen, which has previously said it was in settlement talks with the Commission, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Abengoa entered bankruptcy proceedings in February after its creditors refused to extend a deadline to negotiate a restructuring of its 6 billion euro debt pile.
Two rival groups - one led by U.S. private equity fund Terramar and another by retail shareholders - are battling to take control of Abengoa's main assets, which have been spun off into a separate holding company.
($1 = 0.8877 euros)
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, additional reporting by Nathan Allen in Madrid; Editing by Alexander Smith)
((foo.yunchee@thomsonreuters.com; +32 2 287 6844; Reuters Messaging: foo.yunchee.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS, Dec 10 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators fined Spain's Abengoa ABG.MC 20 million euros ($22.5 million) on Friday for rigging ethanol benchmarks as part of a crackdown on such practices. It had been investigating Abengoa, Belgian peer Alcogroup and Swedish company Lantmannen on possible rigging of ethanol benchmarks, which are published by energy and commodities information provider S&P Global Platts. The European Union's competition watchdog said Spanish engineering and energy group Abengoa admitted taking part in a cartel from September 2011 to May 2014 and agreed to settle for a reduction in the fine. | By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS, Dec 10 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators fined Spain's Abengoa ABG.MC 20 million euros ($22.5 million) on Friday for rigging ethanol benchmarks as part of a crackdown on such practices. It had been investigating Abengoa, Belgian peer Alcogroup and Swedish company Lantmannen on possible rigging of ethanol benchmarks, which are published by energy and commodities information provider S&P Global Platts. ($1 = 0.8877 euros) (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, additional reporting by Nathan Allen in Madrid; Editing by Alexander Smith) ((foo.yunchee@thomsonreuters.com; +32 2 287 6844; Reuters Messaging: foo.yunchee.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS, Dec 10 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators fined Spain's Abengoa ABG.MC 20 million euros ($22.5 million) on Friday for rigging ethanol benchmarks as part of a crackdown on such practices. It had been investigating Abengoa, Belgian peer Alcogroup and Swedish company Lantmannen on possible rigging of ethanol benchmarks, which are published by energy and commodities information provider S&P Global Platts. "The fine, which is lower than the amount provided for in the company's viability plans, does not compromise the restructuring and viability plans currently underway," the company said in a statement. | By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS, Dec 10 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators fined Spain's Abengoa ABG.MC 20 million euros ($22.5 million) on Friday for rigging ethanol benchmarks as part of a crackdown on such practices. It had been investigating Abengoa, Belgian peer Alcogroup and Swedish company Lantmannen on possible rigging of ethanol benchmarks, which are published by energy and commodities information provider S&P Global Platts. Abengoa said regulators did a detailed analysis of its financial situation and viability plans and agreed to a substantial cut in the fine, with a structured payment plan distributed over several years. |
28714.0 | 2021-12-10 00:00:00 UTC | Abengoa hit with 20 million euro EU antitrust fine for rigging ethanol benchmarks | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/abengoa-hit-with-20-million-euro-eu-antitrust-fine-for-rigging-ethanol-benchmarks | nan | nan | BRUSSELS, Dec 10 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators on Friday fined Spanish ethanol producer Abengoa ABG.MC 20 million euros ($22.5 million) for rigging ethanol benchmarks.
The European Commission said Abengoa admitted taking part in a cartel from September 2011 to May 2014 and agreed to settle the case for a reduction in the fine.
The EU executive said Abengoa coordinated its trading behaviour with other companies.
"Abengoa's aim was to artificially increase, maintain and/or prevent from decreasing the levels of Platts' ethanol benchmarks. Abengoa also limited the supply of ethanol delivered to the Rotterdam area," the EU competition enforcer said in a statement.
($1 = 0.8877 euros)
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee)
((foo.yunchee@thomsonreuters.com; +32 2 287 6844; Reuters Messaging: foo.yunchee.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | BRUSSELS, Dec 10 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators on Friday fined Spanish ethanol producer Abengoa ABG.MC 20 million euros ($22.5 million) for rigging ethanol benchmarks. The European Commission said Abengoa admitted taking part in a cartel from September 2011 to May 2014 and agreed to settle the case for a reduction in the fine. "Abengoa's aim was to artificially increase, maintain and/or prevent from decreasing the levels of Platts' ethanol benchmarks. | BRUSSELS, Dec 10 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators on Friday fined Spanish ethanol producer Abengoa ABG.MC 20 million euros ($22.5 million) for rigging ethanol benchmarks. "Abengoa's aim was to artificially increase, maintain and/or prevent from decreasing the levels of Platts' ethanol benchmarks. ($1 = 0.8877 euros) (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee) ((foo.yunchee@thomsonreuters.com; +32 2 287 6844; Reuters Messaging: foo.yunchee.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | BRUSSELS, Dec 10 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators on Friday fined Spanish ethanol producer Abengoa ABG.MC 20 million euros ($22.5 million) for rigging ethanol benchmarks. Abengoa also limited the supply of ethanol delivered to the Rotterdam area," the EU competition enforcer said in a statement. ($1 = 0.8877 euros) (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee) ((foo.yunchee@thomsonreuters.com; +32 2 287 6844; Reuters Messaging: foo.yunchee.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | BRUSSELS, Dec 10 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators on Friday fined Spanish ethanol producer Abengoa ABG.MC 20 million euros ($22.5 million) for rigging ethanol benchmarks. The European Commission said Abengoa admitted taking part in a cartel from September 2011 to May 2014 and agreed to settle the case for a reduction in the fine. The EU executive said Abengoa coordinated its trading behaviour with other companies. |
28715.0 | 2021-12-02 00:00:00 UTC | Is Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) Using Too Much Debt? | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/is-asbury-automotive-group-nyse%3Aabg-using-too-much-debt | nan | nan | Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' So it might be obvious that you need to consider debt, when you think about how risky any given stock is, because too much debt can sink a company. We note that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) does have debt on its balance sheet. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?
What Risk Does Debt Bring?
Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free cash flow. In the worst case scenario, a company can go bankrupt if it cannot pay its creditors. However, a more frequent (but still costly) occurrence is where a company must issue shares at bargain-basement prices, permanently diluting shareholders, just to shore up its balance sheet. Of course, the upside of debt is that it often represents cheap capital, especially when it replaces dilution in a company with the ability to reinvest at high rates of return. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.
How Much Debt Does Asbury Automotive Group Carry?
The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that Asbury Automotive Group had debt of US$1.62b at the end of September 2021, a reduction from US$2.04b over a year. On the flip side, it has US$330.6m in cash leading to net debt of about US$1.29b.
NYSE:ABG Debt to Equity History December 2nd 2021
How Healthy Is Asbury Automotive Group's Balance Sheet?
The latest balance sheet data shows that Asbury Automotive Group had liabilities of US$659.2m due within a year, and liabilities of US$1.61b falling due after that. On the other hand, it had cash of US$330.6m and US$106.6m worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities total US$1.83b more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.
While this might seem like a lot, it is not so bad since Asbury Automotive Group has a market capitalization of US$3.79b, and so it could probably strengthen its balance sheet by raising capital if it needed to. But we definitely want to keep our eyes open to indications that its debt is bringing too much risk.
We measure a company's debt load relative to its earnings power by looking at its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and by calculating how easily its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) cover its interest expense (interest cover). This way, we consider both the absolute quantum of the debt, as well as the interest rates paid on it.
We'd say that Asbury Automotive Group's moderate net debt to EBITDA ratio ( being 1.8), indicates prudence when it comes to debt. And its commanding EBIT of 10.1 times its interest expense, implies the debt load is as light as a peacock feather. Importantly, Asbury Automotive Group grew its EBIT by 93% over the last twelve months, and that growth will make it easier to handle its debt. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Asbury Automotive Group's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. So if you want to see what the professionals think, you might find this free report on analyst profit forecasts to be interesting.
Finally, a company can only pay off debt with cold hard cash, not accounting profits. So we clearly need to look at whether that EBIT is leading to corresponding free cash flow. Over the last three years, Asbury Automotive Group actually produced more free cash flow than EBIT. That sort of strong cash generation warms our hearts like a puppy in a bumblebee suit.
Our View
Happily, Asbury Automotive Group's impressive conversion of EBIT to free cash flow implies it has the upper hand on its debt. But, on a more sombre note, we are a little concerned by its level of total liabilities. Zooming out, Asbury Automotive Group seems to use debt quite reasonably; and that gets the nod from us. After all, sensible leverage can boost returns on equity. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But ultimately, every company can contain risks that exist outside of the balance sheet. To that end, you should be aware of the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Asbury Automotive Group .
If you're interested in investing in businesses that can grow profits without the burden of debt, then check out this free list of growing businesses that have net cash on the balance sheet.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | We note that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) does have debt on its balance sheet. NYSE:ABG Debt to Equity History December 2nd 2021 How Healthy Is Asbury Automotive Group's Balance Sheet? However, a more frequent (but still costly) occurrence is where a company must issue shares at bargain-basement prices, permanently diluting shareholders, just to shore up its balance sheet. | NYSE:ABG Debt to Equity History December 2nd 2021 How Healthy Is Asbury Automotive Group's Balance Sheet? We note that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) does have debt on its balance sheet. The latest balance sheet data shows that Asbury Automotive Group had liabilities of US$659.2m due within a year, and liabilities of US$1.61b falling due after that. | We note that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) does have debt on its balance sheet. NYSE:ABG Debt to Equity History December 2nd 2021 How Healthy Is Asbury Automotive Group's Balance Sheet? We measure a company's debt load relative to its earnings power by looking at its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and by calculating how easily its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) cover its interest expense (interest cover). | We note that Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) does have debt on its balance sheet. NYSE:ABG Debt to Equity History December 2nd 2021 How Healthy Is Asbury Automotive Group's Balance Sheet? Over the last three years, Asbury Automotive Group actually produced more free cash flow than EBIT. |
28716.0 | 2021-11-17 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive Group Enters Oversold Territory (ABG) | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-group-enters-oversold-territory-abg | nan | nan | Legendary investor Warren Buffett advises to be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. One way we can try to measure the level of fear in a given stock is through a technical analysis indicator called the Relative Strength Index, or RSI, which measures momentum on a scale of zero to 100. A stock is considered to be oversold if the RSI reading falls below 30.
In trading on Wednesday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) entered into oversold territory, hitting an RSI reading of 27.9, after changing hands as low as $166 per share. By comparison, the current RSI reading of the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is 75.5. A bullish investor could look at ABG's 27.9 RSI reading today as a sign that the recent heavy selling is in the process of exhausting itself, and begin to look for entry point opportunities on the buy side. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares:
Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $112.76 per share, with $230.965 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $166.29.
Find out what 9 other oversold stocks you need to know about »
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | In trading on Wednesday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) entered into oversold territory, hitting an RSI reading of 27.9, after changing hands as low as $166 per share. A bullish investor could look at ABG's 27.9 RSI reading today as a sign that the recent heavy selling is in the process of exhausting itself, and begin to look for entry point opportunities on the buy side. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares: Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $112.76 per share, with $230.965 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $166.29. | A bullish investor could look at ABG's 27.9 RSI reading today as a sign that the recent heavy selling is in the process of exhausting itself, and begin to look for entry point opportunities on the buy side. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares: Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $112.76 per share, with $230.965 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $166.29. In trading on Wednesday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) entered into oversold territory, hitting an RSI reading of 27.9, after changing hands as low as $166 per share. | In trading on Wednesday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) entered into oversold territory, hitting an RSI reading of 27.9, after changing hands as low as $166 per share. A bullish investor could look at ABG's 27.9 RSI reading today as a sign that the recent heavy selling is in the process of exhausting itself, and begin to look for entry point opportunities on the buy side. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares: Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $112.76 per share, with $230.965 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $166.29. | In trading on Wednesday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) entered into oversold territory, hitting an RSI reading of 27.9, after changing hands as low as $166 per share. A bullish investor could look at ABG's 27.9 RSI reading today as a sign that the recent heavy selling is in the process of exhausting itself, and begin to look for entry point opportunities on the buy side. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares: Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $112.76 per share, with $230.965 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $166.29. |
28717.0 | 2021-10-27 00:00:00 UTC | Validea Joel Greenblatt Strategy Daily Upgrade Report - 10/27/2021 | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/validea-joel-greenblatt-strategy-daily-upgrade-report-10-27-2021-2021-10-27 | nan | nan | The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Earnings Yield Investor model based on the published strategy of Joel Greenblatt. This value model looks for companies with high return on capital and earnings yields.
ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 70% to 90% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. is an automotive retailer in the United States. Its stores offer a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. It owns and operates approximately 112 new vehicle franchises, representing 31 brands of automobiles at 91 dealership locations. It also operates approximately 25 collision centers and one auto auction in approximately 16 metropolitan markets within nine states. Its new vehicle revenue brand mix consists of approximately 45% luxury, 39% imports, and 16% domestic brands.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: PASS
Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC.
Full Guru Analysis for ABG
Full Factor Report for ABG
More details on Validea's Joel Greenblatt strategy
Joel Greenblatt Stock Ideas
About Joel Greenblatt: In his 2005 bestseller The Little Book That Beats The Market, hedge fund manager Joel Greenblatt laid out a stunningly simple way to beat the market using two -- and only two -- fundamental variables. The "Magic Formula," as he called it, produced back-tested returns of 30.8 percent per year from 1988 through 2004, more than doubling the S&P 500's 12.4 percent return during that time. Greenblatt also produced exceptional returns as managing partner at Gotham Capital, a New York City-based hedge fund he founded. The firm averaged a remarkable 40 percent annualized return over more than two decades.
About Validea: Validea is aninvestment researchservice that follows the published strategies of investment legends. Validea offers both stock analysis and model portfolios based on gurus who have outperformed the market over the long-term, including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Martin Zweig. For more information about Validea, click here
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. Full Guru Analysis for ABG Full Factor Report for ABG More details on Validea's Joel Greenblatt strategy Joel Greenblatt Stock Ideas About Joel Greenblatt: In his 2005 bestseller The Little Book That Beats The Market, hedge fund manager Joel Greenblatt laid out a stunningly simple way to beat the market using two -- and only two -- fundamental variables. The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Earnings Yield Investor model based on the published strategy of Joel Greenblatt. | Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. Full Guru Analysis for ABG Full Factor Report for ABG More details on Validea's Joel Greenblatt strategy Joel Greenblatt Stock Ideas About Joel Greenblatt: In his 2005 bestseller The Little Book That Beats The Market, hedge fund manager Joel Greenblatt laid out a stunningly simple way to beat the market using two -- and only two -- fundamental variables. ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Earnings Yield Investor model based on the published strategy of Joel Greenblatt. | Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. Full Guru Analysis for ABG Full Factor Report for ABG More details on Validea's Joel Greenblatt strategy Joel Greenblatt Stock Ideas About Joel Greenblatt: In his 2005 bestseller The Little Book That Beats The Market, hedge fund manager Joel Greenblatt laid out a stunningly simple way to beat the market using two -- and only two -- fundamental variables. ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Earnings Yield Investor model based on the published strategy of Joel Greenblatt. | Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. Full Guru Analysis for ABG Full Factor Report for ABG More details on Validea's Joel Greenblatt strategy Joel Greenblatt Stock Ideas About Joel Greenblatt: In his 2005 bestseller The Little Book That Beats The Market, hedge fund manager Joel Greenblatt laid out a stunningly simple way to beat the market using two -- and only two -- fundamental variables. ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Earnings Yield Investor model based on the published strategy of Joel Greenblatt. |
28718.0 | 2021-10-26 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive Group Inc (ABG) Q3 2021 Earnings Call Transcript | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-group-inc-abg-q3-2021-earnings-call-transcript-2021-10-26 | nan | nan | Image source: The Motley Fool.
Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG)
Q3 2021 Earnings Call
Oct 26, 2021, 10:00 a.m. ET
Contents:
Prepared Remarks
Questions and Answers
Call Participants
Prepared Remarks:
Operator
Good day, and welcome to the Asbury Automotive Group Q3 2021 Earnings Call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Karen Reid. Please go ahead.
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Karen Reid -- Vice President & Treasurer
Thanks, operator, and good morning, everyone. As noted, today's call is being recorded and will be available for replay later this afternoon. Welcome to Asbury Automotive Third Quarter 2021 Earnings Call. The press release detailing Asbury's third quarter results was issued earlier this morning and is posted on our website at asburyauto.com. Participating with me today are David Hult, our President and Chief Executive Officer; Dan Clara, our Senior Vice President of Operations; and Michael Welch, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. At the conclusion of our remarks, we will open the call up for questions, and I will be available later today for any follow-up questions that you may have. Before we begin, we must remind you that the discussion during the call today is likely to contain forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are statements other than those which are historical in nature, which may include financial projections, forecasts and current expectations, each of which are subject to certain uncertainties. For information regarding certain of the risks that may cause actual results to differ materially from these statements, please see our filings with the SEC from time to time, including our Form 10-K for the year ended December 2020, any subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and our earnings release issued earlier today.
We expressly disclaim any responsibility to update forward-looking statements. In addition, certain non-GAAP financial measures as defined under SEC rules may be discussed on this call. As required by applicable SEC rules, we provide reconciliations of any such non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures on our website. We have also posted an updated investor presentation on our website, asburyauto.com, highlighting our third quarter results.
It is now my pleasure to hand the call over to our CEO, David Hult. David?
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, Karen, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to our third quarterearnings call In our earnings release this morning, we reported adjusted EPS of $7.36, a record third quarter up 80% over the prior year. Though our new car inventory levels continue to be challenged due to the chip shortage, our team delivered strong results and enabled us to deliver an impressive gross margin of 20%, an all-time record and an expansion of 180 basis points versus the third quarter last year.
These results demonstrate the resilient strength of the franchise model with its full suite of services through the car ownership journey from sales to service contributing to sustained profitability. We've also stayed disciplined in managing expenses, resulting in adjusted SG&A as a percentage of gross profit of 55.3%, a 580 basis point improvement versus prior year. Our total revenue for the quarter was up 30% year-over-year, and total gross profit was up 43%. Due to this record performance and strong cash flow, our balance sheet remains strong. Our net leverage ratio ended this quarter at 1.2 times.
A quick update on our five-year strategic plan. Same store revenue growth, assuming 2020 annualized revenue for Park Place, is up 10% and is exceeding expectations. Regarding Clicklane, our unit sales are pacing ahead of our projection for year one. And we've made great strides this quarter on our acquisition pillar. As announced, we expect to close on the transformative acquisition of the Larry H. Miller Dealerships and Total Care Auto in the fourth quarter. With their strong name and brand mix in the right states and our aligned cultures, we look forward to jointly deploying our capabilities and growing together. In addition, we closed two acquisitions recently. Greeley Subaru in the Denver market and Kahlo Chrysler Jeep Dodge in Indianapolis and are on schedule to close Arapahoe Hyundai Genesis in the Denver market today.
With another acquisition still under contract and expected to close in the fourth quarter as well, in total, in 2021, we anticipate that we will close on $6.6 billion of annualized revenue from acquisitions. With these results, we maintain full confidence in the execution of our growth strategy, and we will update our five-year plan during our Q1earnings callin 2022. Now I would like to welcome Michael Welch, our new CFO to the Asbury team. He brings his vast knowledge of the auto retail business, along with his broad experience in finance. We worked together at Group one for many years, and I'm excited to be working with him again. I am also thrilled to welcome our new team members in Indianapolis and in Colorado into the Asbury family.
And finally, I would like to address all of my teammates at Asbury. Our ability to add quality stores, who like us care about serving our guests and being highly engaged in our communities could not have happened without you. You all have given us the ability to thoughtfully grow our core business, because you align behind our vision and you are executing each and every day. I appreciate all of you, and I'm thankful to be part of this team. People make the difference in any organization and you are making us the best place to work, do business and grow your careers.
Thank you. I will now hand the call over to Dan to discuss our operating performance. Dan?
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Thank you, David, and good morning, everyone. My remarks will pertain to our same store performance compared to the third quarter of 2020, unless stated otherwise. Looking at new vehicles. Based on current market conditions, we continue to be focused on being opportunistic with our inventory and improving grosses to maximize profits. Our new average gross profit per vehicle was $4,808 up $2,369 or 97% from the prior year period. All segment margins were up significantly from the prior year period. At the end of September, our total new vehicle inventory was $121.9 million, and our day supply was at 12 days, down 35 days from the prior year.
With still no clear understanding of when production will return to a normal level, we expect the day supply to remain low throughout the remainder of the year and into 2022. Turning to used vehicles. Our used retail volume increased 27%, while gross margin was 8.4%, representing an average gross profit per vehicle of $2,402. As a result of our performance, our gross profit was up 45%. Our used vehicle inventory ended the quarter at $236.4 million, which represents a 28-day supply, down seven days from the prior year. Our used to new ratio for the quarter was 113%. Turning to F&I. Our strong, consistent and sustainable growth in F&I delivered an increase of $155 to $1,955 per vehicle retail from the prior quarter. In the third quarter, our front-end yield per vehicle increased $1,400 per vehicle to an all-time record of $5,487.
Turning to parts and service. Our parts and service revenue increased 10% in the quarter. Though warranty revenue dropped 18%, our customer paid revenue continues its healthy recovery, posting a 13% growth. Overall, our total fixed gross profit increased 10%, while total fixed margin was 60.9%. And now I would like to provide an update on our omnichannel initiatives. Our digital marketing team continues to do an outstanding job generating traffic to our websites. Our commitment years ago to Google organic search continues to drive efficiencies in times where inventory is shrinking, allowing us to increase traffic without spending media dollars. In Q3, we had over 6.3 million unique visitors, a 12% increase versus Q3 2020. Another initiative is to increase online service appointments. We achieved over 143,000 online service appointments, an all-time record and a 12% increase versus Q3 2020.
This component positively impacts service retention and increases the dollars per repair order. Now with two full quarters of Clicklane at all stores under our belt, we would like to share some performance metrics. We sold 6,000 vehicles through Clicklane in Q3, of which 47% of them were new vehicles and 53% used. 93% of our transactions this quarter were with customers that were new to Asbury's dealership network. Average transaction time continues to be consistent with previous quarter, eight minutes for cash deals and 14 minutes for finance deals. Total front-end yield of $5,400. Average credit score is higher than the average credit score at our stores. Total front-end yield of $4,396 on trades taken through Clicklane.
We continue to expect annualized volume through Clicklane of approximately 30,000 vehicles by year-end. As expected, Clicklane customers are converting at greater rates than traditional Internet leads. We remain quite excited about the performance of Clicklane thus far as it is tracking ahead of its target. And finally, I would like to thank all our teams in the field for their hard work, dedication and commitment to delivering an exceptional guest experience.
In addition, I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new team members from Greeley Subaru, Kahlo CDJR and Arapahoe Hyundai Genesis. All of you have built tremendous organizations that properly align with our North Star of being the most guest-centric automotive retailer. Our future is bright, and I look forward to meeting all of you. Michael, welcome to Asbury. Your depth of knowledge in the automotive business is already making a significant impact on our company. I am enjoying working with you and look forward to growing Asbury together.
I will now hand the call over to Michael to discuss our financial performance. Michael?
Michael D. Welch -- Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Thank you both for the warm welcome. I'm excited to be part of the Asbury team and have the opportunity to work with David again. I look forward to working with the team on our growth journey. To our investors, analysts and other participants on our call, good morning. I would like to provide some financial highlights, which marked another record quarter for our company. For additional details on our financial performance for the quarter, please see our financial supplement in our press release today. Overall, compared to the third quarter of last year, our actions to manage gross profit and control expenses resulted in a third quarter adjusted operating margin of 8.5%, an increase of 109 basis points above the same period last year and an all-time record.
Adjusted operating income increased 69% to $204.5 million, a third quarter record. And adjusted net income increased 81% to $143.6 million, another third quarter record. Net income for the third quarter 2021 was adjusted for acquisition expenses of $3.5 million or $0.13 per diluted share and a gain on dealership divestitures of $8 million or $0.31 per diluted share. Net income for the third quarter of 2020 was adjusted for a gain on dealership divestiture of $24.7 million or $0.96 per diluted share, acquisition costs of $1.3 million or $0.05 per diluted share and $700,000 or $0.03 per diluted share for a real estate-related charge. Our effective tax rate was 23.7% for the third quarter of 2021 compared to 24.8% in 2020. Floor plan interest expense for the quarter decreased by $1.5 million over the prior year, driven by lower inventory levels.
With respect to capital deployed this quarter, we acquired a Subaru store in Colorado, utilizing approximately $16 million of our cash on the balance sheet. In addition, we spent approximately $15 million on capital expenditures, and we repaid approximately $9 million of debt. Also as part of our strategy to optimize our portfolio, we divested of our BMW store in Charlottesville, resulting in proceeds of $18 million, net of its mortgage payoff. As a result of our operational performance, our balance sheet is quite healthy as we ended the quarter with approximately $780 million of liquidity comprised of cash, floor plan offset accounts and availability on both our used line and revolving credit facility. Also, at the end of the quarter, our net leverage ratio stood at 1.2 times, well below our targeted net leverage of three.
With our announced acquisitions under contract, we are working toward financing the exciting growth at Asbury. As announced in late September, we plan to raise the combined -- a combination of permanent debt and equity financing prior to the closing of Larry H. Miller acquisition. We are working with our supportive lender group to upsize our credit facility and syndicate the real estate mortgage financing with plans to close both ahead of our acquisition of Larry H. Miller Dealerships later this year. Although the transaction is initially expected to take our net leverage above our targeted range of three times, we believe that we can deleverage approximately three times during 2023, given the highly accretive nature of the deal combined with strong free cash flow generation.
As we look forward to the remainder of 2021, we anticipate similar conditions to what we have seen this quarter. New vehicle inventory supplies will likely remain low and unpredictable into the next year. In closing, I would like to thank our teams across the businesses, who continue to work tirelessly during the unprecedented times to ensure our current and long-term success. I would also like to welcome our new team members from our recent acquisitions. I look forward to working with you and continue to build on the strong cultures that you are bringing to Asbury. This concludes our prepared remarks.
We will now turn the call over to the operator and take your questions. Operator?
Questions and Answers:
Operator
Thank you, sir. [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Rick Nelson with Stephens.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst
Thanks. Good morning. Terrific quarter. So I guess, to begin, from a balance sheet standpoint, where you see the pro forma leverage going post the $6.6 billion in revenue that you're acquiring? And how should we think about the capital priorities going forward? Are we in deleverage mode? Is that the focus of some of the near-term post these deals?
Michael D. Welch -- Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Rick, thank you for your question. Yes, from a leverage perspective, after we close the deals, we expect leverage to be in the high 3s. From a capital deployment perspective, just allocation in the future, we will be in a deleveraging mode in '22 and '23, just to bring that leverage back down to our three times target. But we can also take the cash flow from a deleveraging perspective and either pay back debt or if we found some acquisitions that provided EBITDA, that then would provide additional leverage, that would also provide some deleveraging ability as well.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst
Thanks for that, Michael. Also, the $900 million in incremental revenues, you could talk about the composition of those dealerships, maybe what markets are in and the size of the groups that you're bringing in.
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Rick, this is David. We discussed this morning, Kahlo, the Greeley Subaru and Arapahoe Hyundai today. When you take those three out, it leaves a balance of about $740 million in revenue, which is all in one group. Because it hasn't been fully announced yet, we don't want to say it, but the brand mix is about 50% luxury and then mostly import with one domestic store as well. Really a very strong group with the right brand mix in a market that we've been trying to grow.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst
Great. Thanks for that. Maybe as a follow-up to that, if you could speak to the multiples that you're looking at for those stores.
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Yes. So on the one that we haven't announced yet, off the top of my head, I believe it's about an eight multiple -- between seven and eight multiple. There's good upside in the stores and opportunity to grow them within the marketplace, and there's a little bit of Capex involved as well.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst
Okay. The Larry Miller deal, I'm sure they're bringing some digital assets to the group. And if you could speak to any potential challenges integrating that group into Clicklane and the opportunities there?
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Sure, absolutely. I would tell you, it's -- the integration should go pretty smooth. We're all in the same software, same DMS. We're retaining all the senior executive management team and really kind of like we did Park Place, let it operate in its own silo. They're extremely strong brands, great leadership, and the store has performed extremely well. There's a lot of capabilities there for us to enhance their digital side. They're extremely strong operators, but there's an opportunity for digital. I don't think that will be a focus the first few months. It will be mainly more integrating the folks and getting to know one another and creating that trust and relationship and then starting to integrate the software. But like anything, there's always potential in every acquisition to grow.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst
Great. Thanks for that. Finally, if I could ask you about Total Care Auto, the opportunities to bring that in. How is -- what sort of financial implications that has on the F&I side and any potential risks that, that strategy brings?
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Rick, this is David. I'll start and then Michael can jump in. I would tell you it's a very stable business. The Miller organization has had it over 30 years. It's AM Best rated. They're doing extremely great job at paying claims, a strong balance sheet. Really, we see it as very accretive to us. Margin is significantly higher than our operations. And they're essentially just high level, making above $50 million a year EBITDA on 115,000 car sales. When you integrate Asbury at over 200,000 car sales into that, you can kind of see the upside potential there. So we're excited about what it can do. And the other huge benefit that it's had for that organization, they have extremely strong service retention numbers. It's a true hand-in-glove relationship between TCA and the Miller organization.
Michael D. Welch -- Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Rick, one thing that will cause a little bit of, I guess, slowness on how we integrate is from an accounting perspective, it costs a little bit of noise of moving dealership profits from a day one profit to kind of we have to kind of defer and amortize it over the life of the contract because it's an insurance business. So because of that, it will take us a few years to be able to bring in Asbury at a measured clip. The other thing is that business to bring in Asbury has to just size itself a little bit for the additional business and obtain some insurance licenses in some states that they don't do business right now. And so we just have a little bit of leg work to do to be able to get Asbury fully brought into their mix.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst
Got it. Okay. Thanks a lot.
Michael D. Welch -- Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
It's about two to three years -- it's going to be two to three year period.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst
Okay. Thanks for that. Good luck.
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, Rick.
Michael D. Welch -- Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from John Murphy with Bank of America.
Aileen Smith -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Good morning, everyone. This is Aileen Smith on for John. First question on the new vehicle business. Can you talk about the entrance versus exit rate in the quarter on gross margins in GPUs? And more specifically, is it fair to assume that growth has improved through the quarter as the inventory environment tightened or rather dropped off with sales trends? Just trying to think about what the launch point should be for 3Q into 4Q and then further into 2022?
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Yeah. Good morning. This is Dan. The margins, as we enter into our Q3, saw pretty stable throughout the quarter, although I would say probably a little bit of an uptick as we were exiting the quarter, mainly driven for the -- due to the supply and demand. As we move forward, we -- as I stated on my script, we see the inventory constraints continue well into 2022. So we expect the margins to ride right along the inventory.
Aileen Smith -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Okay. Great. And then can you talk a bit about the prioritization, if at all, for the used vehicle business between same-store sales comps versus gross margins and GPUs? Relative to the new vehicle business quarter-on-quarter, gross margins are down, but the offsetting factor for this is obviously a material acceleration in same-store sales growth. Is this something we should look at as a structural trend going forward as you continue to focus on the used vehicle market for growth opportunity? Or is this purely a function of broader market dynamics, namely the inventory shortage that's more transitory in nature?
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Yeah. I think that it's just a product of the market. If you look at our cost of sale or average selling price in used cars, it increased 16%, and that is something that we're seeing. As inventories drop down in new cars, our cost of sale for used cars is going up. A lot of people, customers that have purchased cars in the recent years, their car is not going to be worth more than today. So they're opting to trade that car in or sell it back to us. So I believe that that's part of the issue.
The other aspect is we expect this to continue as long as the market conditions stay the same. And to be honest, we're not saying, hey, let's grow the used car business from a volume standpoint and sacrifice margin, we believe that we can get both in this market.
Aileen Smith -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Got it. And one last one, if I may. I know you referenced you're going to update your five-year plan next year, which I think we can reasonably assume as a function of the Larry Miller acquisition and obviously, driving acquired revenue much higher than the target you've previously outlined. But the other key component of your five-year plan is Clicklane. Should we also be thinking about Clicklane and organic growth in the business as having upside versus your prior target? Or would you say the rollout on this front is coming more in line with expectations?
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Yes. This is David. I'll try and address it, and if I don't hit it right, please come back. When we look at Clicklane for the next five years, we did it on a monthly basis by store, with conversions increasing each and every year to get to that valuation. As it relates to year 1, we're technically six months fully into it.
From a conversion standpoint, we're about two percentage points below where we expect it to be. But because there's been additional traffic, we're exceeding our volume target. I would tell you it's a little bit tricky with Clicklane right now because of the lack of inventory. There's a lot of traffic, but there's not a lot of inventory to purchase from.
So it's hard to fully assess the conversions right now with lack of inventory. But we're real happy with what we've seen, how it's being treated and the consumer responds to it. And our belief is next year in '22 and certainly in '23 and '24, each year, we're anticipating that conversion rate to go higher as the consumer becomes more comfortable transacting online and the tools continue to become more sophisticated and easier to use.
Aileen Smith -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Got it. That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for taking my questions.
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from Ryan Sigdahl with Craig-Hallum Capital Group.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Morning. Nice quarter and thank for taking my questions.
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, Ryan.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Curious on mobile mechanic. I mean you talked Clicklane a lot, but how much opportunity is there from a parts and service standpoint to really digitize that and go closer to the consumer and bring it to them?
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Yes, it's a great question. I would tell you, over the last five years, between different things we've done to enhance it on our own and adding a service tracker element, we're seeing higher conversion rates than we've seen in the last four or five years, meaning consumers are approving more work than they have in years past, and they're spending more dollars per repair order. That has a lot to do with the age of the car as well. We do see more opportunity to be more digital and more engaged and transparent with the consumer, and that will come over time. But tremendous benefits so far from what we've seen, and it's mainly our source is text messaging.
We're communicating through text message, the MPIs and how -- the multi-point inspections on how the car is doing, their ability to communicate directly with the technician and then being able to pay for the service via text as well. So continues to grow, great feedback. And with the consumers converting at a higher rate, that tells us their level of comfort and transparency is there as well.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Got you. And then just on the inventory, I know not to belabor the point, but 12 days supply on the new side, I guess, how has that trended in the months subsequent to the quarter end? And then also comment on used as well.
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
So thanks. Good morning. This is Dan, by the way. The day supply around the quarter, we have been around that 12-day supply from the beginning of the quarter, and we remain consistent. The stores are doing a great job. And I think I mentioned this in the previous call, doing a great job really preselling incoming units. So we've adjusted to the market demands.
And again, the stores and the operators are doing a fantastic job. From a used car perspective, I'll tell you, our day supply, you can see it is lower than where we were operating a year ago, but we continue to acquire inventory from our main stream, which will be your trade-in, your lease turn-ins and direct-to-consumer purchases. Approximately about 79% of our inventory are coming from those three venues.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Last question for me, and I'll turn it over to the others. But Mercedes, they're cutting dealer trade margins by 50 bps to help pay for EVs. Any comment there, any concern, I guess, with other OEMs doing this and potentially squeezing the dealer margins?
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
This is David. So the quick reaction is no, as it relates to Mercedes. We really enjoy the partnership with them and the brand. We have high-margin business with them. Consumers really appreciate the brand as well. And we look at this as a partnership. A small cut into the margin to set up for the future is an investment for both of us to make, and we're proud to represent the brand. As it pertains to other manufacturers that might do it, it's hard to comment on something that you can't see and not aware of yet. But certainly, we look at the relationship as a partnership, and we have to have skin in the game as well. But we don't see that margin percent with Mercedes materially affecting us.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Thanks, guys. Good luck
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from Grace Kim with Morgan Stanley.
Grace Kim -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Hi. Thank you for taking my question and congrats on the quarter. On behalf of Adam Jonas, how sustainable do you expect SG&A to growth to be going forward, taking into account your digital strategy and recent acquisitions?
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Sure, Grace. This is David, and I'm sure after what I say, Michael will jump in and try and clean that up. I would tell you the SG&A is impressive right now for a couple of different reasons. The obvious supply and demand, high margins is helping dramatically. But as the pandemic started, we really got our production per employee at a much higher rate.
We're of the belief as you look three to five years out, the retail franchise model changes a little bit on how you compensate and what that looks like. So we think that the current SG&A is certainly there, is here to stay for at least the next year. And then with improving software and capabilities and Clicklane growing, we think there's future opportunities to strengthen the SG&A or tighten it up for lack of a better term.
Grace Kim -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Got it. That's really helpful. And shifting gears a bit, how would you characterize high-quality strategic acquisitions going forward?
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
It's a great question. We came out with the five -year plan for $5 billion in revenue. You're never going to get $1 billion each year, but the thought process is what are we generating cash flow and what do we take on, not knowing that an acquisition like Larry H. Miller would be out there. There's a lot of stores for sale.
There's a lot of stores that transact, but every store is not the same, even though the brand name might be the same. Some groups and the cultures that they have are pretty strong and align really well with us. When we find a group that we think aligns really well with us and the synergies are there, we try to be very aggressive and go after it. And the other stuff, we just simply don't go after, not that it's a bad asset, but it just might not align with us.
I think in the last 3.5 years, when you look at the acquisitions we've done, they've shown to be extremely accretive to our group with extremely low turnover numbers. So that tells us that we're finding the right acquisitions, we're properly aligned, and we're making good investments with the shareholders' money.
Grace Kim -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Got it. Thank you very much and congrats again.
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from Rajat Gupta with JPMorgan.
Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst
Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking the question. Just had a follow-up question on productivity savings. Could you remind us of where your head count level is currently?
Michael D. Welch -- Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Well, I think before the couple of acquisitions we just did, Rajat, our head count was right at 8,300.
Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst
Got it. Got it. So it looks like you were at 8,500 before Park Place, you're roughly around 8,300 today. Your volumes are up meaningfully versus 2019 levels on a combined basis. So just any way to parse out these productivity benefits across permanent head count reductions, move to digital like Clicklane and then maybe just lower inventory levels we're dealing with at the stores today. Just trying to get a sense as inventory starts to come back, who knows it maybe 2023, where does your like-for-like head count go? And can you maintain these current levels of productivity once you are there? And I have a follow-up. Thanks.
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Sure, Rajat, this is David. Yes, we believe we can maintain these productivity levels per employee, mainly because of the software applications that we've had is making it easier for our folks to become more productive. We think the current numbers were at productivity per employee probably stay stable for the next 18 months to 24 months. And then we think at that point, we have another opportunity to increase the production per employee and that's where our focus is. And the reason why it's 18 months to 24 months out, quite honestly, it's software-related.
Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst
Understood. Great. That's encouraging. Just shifting gears completely to parts and services. Can you give us a sense of how the exit rate was for that business in the third quarter? How the fourth quarter is shaping up there in terms of just improvement in that trajectory? And I also thought to ask on the warranty business specifically, given the supply shortages, but also given we have sold fewer than normal level of new vehicles the last couple of years, how do you see that playing through in terms of impact to the overall business in maybe 2022, 2023, given the retention rates are pretty high in like the first two to three years? So just if you could tie this together, that would be really helpful and also just some of the near-term trends? Thanks.
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
So Rajat, this is Dan. Good morning. From a fixed operations business for the quarter, as you can see, the warranty business really pulled back. That's really got to do a lot, and it's just really across all domestic import and luxury. Just some of the campaigns that we saw last year, fuel pumps to name a few, maybe a few dashboards, door actuators, you name it, we've seen a pullback from that perspective. And that's affecting, obviously, our warranty traffic.
Customer pay is recovering pretty good, as you saw. Our customer pay gross profit was up 10%, and we continue to see the healthy recovery as well. As we move forward from a unit and operational standpoint, from a warranty perspective, it's hard to tell because warranty is not something that we forecast for. It's really driven by if there's a recall, if there is an issue with fuel pumps, again, you name it. So we really don't control that. To the extent that, something like that happens, we expect warranty to come back up around. And if not, then we'll just -- we'll keep focusing on growing the customer pay.
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
And just to touch on that, Dan mentioned the customer pays up 10% growth. It's actually up 12% growth. It's the dollars per repair order going up. And if I heard you right, with the new car customer hangs around for the first few years and weans off, in our organization, the one metric that we track every day on the customer pay side is what's the average miles coming into our store. And naturally, the higher the miles that tells us we're retaining a much deeper into the channel, if you will. And we're just under 70,000 miles for the average car from a customer pay standpoint coming into the company. So we think that's pretty healthy and as the car park continues to age and there is an availability really the product for everyone to keep up with the demand, we see parts and service continuing to stay on this, what I would call stable growth rate.
Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst
Got it. That's really helpful. Thanks so much for all the color. And good luck.
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from Stephanie Moore with Truist.
Stephanie Moore -- Truist -- Analyst
Hi. Good morning. Thanks for the question.
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Absolutely.
Stephanie Moore -- Truist -- Analyst
I wanted to touch on -- we're about one year into the Park Place acquisition, so would love to get any comments about how that acquisition has performed, maybe some areas that exceeded your expectations, maybe some that are a little below, maybe anything on integration that you learned. Just any color there would be helpful. Thank you.
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Sure, Steph. This is David. Yeah. I said this before the acquisition when it was announced that if we could only buy one dealership group in the United States, what would it be, and I would have said Park Place. And it's not the brand mix. The brand mix is fantastic, but it's the people. Tremendous leadership in that organization, a tremendous tenure, dedicated employees. They just are very disciplined, well-run group that truly care about their customer base and have earned the brand recognition that they've had.
When we look at it, we're a year into it, we're exceeding our year three targets from a financial standpoint. But I'd say they're -- oddly enough, there aren't any surprises because they're everything that we thought they would be. They're just the best of the best at what they do. They're caring individuals that execute consistently. And we're proud to be associated with them and share ideas on how to get better, but it's been a phenomenal acquisition for us.
Stephanie Moore -- Truist -- Analyst
Absolutely. Thank you. And then just switching to the F&I front, I would love -- there's obviously been -- I think there's an opportunity that you spoke on even earlier in this call, coming out of the Larry H. Miller acquisition and building on your F&I. But is there anything else taking that acquisition at the side that you could be focusing on just to increase gross profit per unit on an F&I standpoint, anything more organically that you are working on? Thanks.
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Good morning, Stephanie. This is Dan. Yes, from an F&I standpoint, we believe our top performers, there's little room for growth. We continue to focus on our bottom 20%, bottom producers. And to the extent that we continue to train and improve their performance, we see the growth coming from there for our F&I PVR.
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
We like the fact that 70% of our F&I number is product sales and only 30% is reserve. And the Larry H. Miller Group has better penetration numbers than we do. So we're certainly excited to learn from them and grow as well. So, we definitely believe there's upside in F&I. And clearly, we're certainly not at the top of the charts as it relates to our peer group.
Stephanie Moore -- Truist -- Analyst
Great. Thank you so much.
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from Bret Jordan with Jefferies.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Hey. Good morning, guys.
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Good morning.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Question on Clicklane. I guess, with a bit more experience now, does the product skew to a higher demographic or skew more to luxury? You talked about higher repair orders and higher FICO scores. But does that channel really migrate to one segment of your mix, luxury or import versus domestic?
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Good morning, Bret. This is Dan. No, we're seeing consistent use across the brands from ultra-luxury, luxury, import and domestic. So, pretty well received across the board.
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
And I would tell you that some of the brands, and -- I can't really explain it, but some of the brands that are converting at a high rate or have the high user, Hyundai, Kia and Lexus are a few of the brands that just do extremely well with the tool.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Okay, great. And then a question, I guess, on the M&A side. You said multiple sort of in that six to eight times. Are we looking at trailing 12? Or are we adjusting sort of for what we've seen in the surge and profitability recently and looking at a longer term to get to that six to eight?
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Yes. No, I appreciate that question. I don't think anyone is pricing the multiple on the trailing 12 months. You really have to do -- you have to look at the last three to five years in the market that it's in and the brand that it's in. And then the performance within the brand within the market. An example would be if a store is 200% sales efficient compared to 80% sales efficient when looking at the upside in it. So, it's more based upon a three- to five -year look average is when we refer to those multiples.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Okay. Thank you. Appreciate it.
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Yes.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from David Whiston with Morningstar.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
Hi, everyone. Going back to the Clicklane demographic discussion from a second ago, you're getting -- it sounds like you're getting a lot of exposure across all your brands, even the volume brands, but at the end of the day, it's more the higher FICO credit customers that are transacting with the tool. So why is that? And can you get the lower FICO credit customers to engage more and actually transact?
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Hey David, this is David. I'll jump in and then Dan can certainly. I would tell you, on an average quarter between 8% and 10% of our business is what we refer to as lower credit or sub-prime and the rest of it isn't. It becomes a lot more complicated with sub-prime online transactions, because of the documentations and what's needed. It's not impossible.
I think the reason you're seeing higher credit scores and higher down payments on the tool is it's simplistically someone with a 750-plus Beacon score understands they're not worried about financing and understands that they can get what they want. So when you think about ease and convenience, that consumer who knows they have the credit power and wherewithal to transact, would they prefer to sit in the showroom for 2.5 hours or do a 14-minute transaction online? So I think that's the gravity that's pulling it there.
We're certainly seeing lower credit scores as well on there. It's not just simplistically all 750-plus Beacon score customers. There's a broad mix. But again, the score average is certainly higher. And we credit that -- that's different than what we had with our prior tool. And the main reason is -- our belief is, is because that high credit score customer actually knows they can do the complete transaction and it's not simply a lead generator.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
Okay. And compared to say a few months ago, with the inventory continuing to be poor, are you seeing customers, especially new vehicle customers or would be new vehicle customers, are they more likely to buy used compared to a few months ago? Or are they at a point where they're saying forget it, I'll come back when inventory is better?
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Good morning. This is Dan again. Customers -- we're seeing a mix. I mean some customers are actually going into a used vehicle. It depends on their circumstances. If they got to have the car now, they're willing to do that. We're also seeing customers that are willing to give up a particular package or an option and may be settle for a car that is incoming in the next few days or one that might be sitting on the dealer's lot.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
Okay. And finally, are you guys worried at all about inflation for consumers' ability to buy a vehicle next year?
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. Look, this is David. Clearly, inflation is always a concern. I would tell you, in this past quarter and in the past 12 months, it's comforting to us to see the credit scores go up, the down payments go up and the financing terms slightly go shorter term. So that tells us that there's a lot of cash in the consumer's pocket out there, and they're using it to their discretion. We've already seen the inflation in a lot of areas, but as it relates to automobiles, the -- I wouldn't call it inflation, I would say the margin pressure is simply a supply and demand. The inflationary pieces of the automotive cycle, if you will, is not material from our perspective. It's not like food and that kind of thing.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
Okay. Thank you.
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Thank you very much. This concludes today's discussion. We appreciate your participation and look forward to speaking with you after the fourth quarter. Have a great day.
Operator
[Operator Closing Remarks]
Duration: 48 minutes
Call participants:
Karen Reid -- Vice President & Treasurer
David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Michael D. Welch -- Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst
Aileen Smith -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Grace Kim -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst
Stephanie Moore -- Truist -- Analyst
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
More ABG analysis
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG) Q3 2021 Earnings Call Oct 26, 2021, 10:00 a.m. Operator [Operator Closing Remarks] Duration: 48 minutes Call participants: Karen Reid -- Vice President & Treasurer David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations Michael D. Welch -- Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst Aileen Smith -- Bank of America -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Grace Kim -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst Stephanie Moore -- Truist -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. As a result of our operational performance, our balance sheet is quite healthy as we ended the quarter with approximately $780 million of liquidity comprised of cash, floor plan offset accounts and availability on both our used line and revolving credit facility. | Operator [Operator Closing Remarks] Duration: 48 minutes Call participants: Karen Reid -- Vice President & Treasurer David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations Michael D. Welch -- Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst Aileen Smith -- Bank of America -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Grace Kim -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst Stephanie Moore -- Truist -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG) Q3 2021 Earnings Call Oct 26, 2021, 10:00 a.m. Participating with me today are David Hult, our President and Chief Executive Officer; Dan Clara, our Senior Vice President of Operations; and Michael Welch, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. | Operator [Operator Closing Remarks] Duration: 48 minutes Call participants: Karen Reid -- Vice President & Treasurer David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations Michael D. Welch -- Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst Aileen Smith -- Bank of America -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Grace Kim -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst Stephanie Moore -- Truist -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG) Q3 2021 Earnings Call Oct 26, 2021, 10:00 a.m. Participating with me today are David Hult, our President and Chief Executive Officer; Dan Clara, our Senior Vice President of Operations; and Michael Welch, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. | Operator [Operator Closing Remarks] Duration: 48 minutes Call participants: Karen Reid -- Vice President & Treasurer David W. Hult -- President & Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations Michael D. Welch -- Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst Aileen Smith -- Bank of America -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Grace Kim -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst Stephanie Moore -- Truist -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG) Q3 2021 Earnings Call Oct 26, 2021, 10:00 a.m. Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations Thank you, David, and good morning, everyone. |
28719.0 | 2021-10-23 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) Delivered A Better ROE Than Its Industry | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-group-inc.-nyse%3Aabg-delivered-a-better-roe-than-its-industry-2021-10-23 | nan | nan | One of the best investments we can make is in our own knowledge and skill set. With that in mind, this article will work through how we can use Return On Equity (ROE) to better understand a business. We'll use ROE to examine Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG), by way of a worked example.
Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.
How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?
The formula for return on equity is:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Asbury Automotive Group is:
37% = US$430m ÷ US$1.1b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).
The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. That means that for every $1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated $0.37 in profit.
Does Asbury Automotive Group Have A Good ROE?
Arguably the easiest way to assess company's ROE is to compare it with the average in its industry. The limitation of this approach is that some companies are quite different from others, even within the same industry classification. As is clear from the image below, Asbury Automotive Group has a better ROE than the average (29%) in the Specialty Retail industry.
NYSE:ABG Return on Equity October 23rd 2021
That's clearly a positive. With that said, a high ROE doesn't always indicate high profitability. Aside from changes in net income, a high ROE can also be the outcome of high debt relative to equity, which indicates risk.
The Importance Of Debt To Return On Equity
Most companies need money -- from somewhere -- to grow their profits. That cash can come from retained earnings, issuing new shares (equity), or debt. In the case of the first and second options, the ROE will reflect this use of cash, for growth. In the latter case, the use of debt will improve the returns, but will not change the equity. In this manner the use of debt will boost ROE, even though the core economics of the business stay the same.
Combining Asbury Automotive Group's Debt And Its 37% Return On Equity
It's worth noting the high use of debt by Asbury Automotive Group, leading to its debt to equity ratio of 1.51. While no doubt that its ROE is impressive, we would have been even more impressed had the company achieved this with lower debt. Debt increases risk and reduces options for the company in the future, so you generally want to see some good returns from using it.
Summary
Return on equity is a useful indicator of the ability of a business to generate profits and return them to shareholders. Companies that can achieve high returns on equity without too much debt are generally of good quality. All else being equal, a higher ROE is better.
But ROE is just one piece of a bigger puzzle, since high quality businesses often trade on high multiples of earnings. It is important to consider other factors, such as future profit growth -- and how much investment is required going forward. So I think it may be worth checking this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | We'll use ROE to examine Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG), by way of a worked example. NYSE:ABG Return on Equity October 23rd 2021 That's clearly a positive. As is clear from the image below, Asbury Automotive Group has a better ROE than the average (29%) in the Specialty Retail industry. | We'll use ROE to examine Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG), by way of a worked example. NYSE:ABG Return on Equity October 23rd 2021 That's clearly a positive. The formula for return on equity is: Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Asbury Automotive Group is: 37% = US$430m ÷ US$1.1b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021). | We'll use ROE to examine Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG), by way of a worked example. NYSE:ABG Return on Equity October 23rd 2021 That's clearly a positive. The formula for return on equity is: Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Asbury Automotive Group is: 37% = US$430m ÷ US$1.1b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021). | We'll use ROE to examine Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG), by way of a worked example. NYSE:ABG Return on Equity October 23rd 2021 That's clearly a positive. The Importance Of Debt To Return On Equity Most companies need money -- from somewhere -- to grow their profits. |
28720.0 | 2021-10-03 00:00:00 UTC | Possible bearish signals as Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) insiders disposed of US$6.5m worth of stock | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/possible-bearish-signals-as-asbury-automotive-group-inc.-nyse%3Aabg-insiders-disposed-of-us | nan | nan | The fact that multiple Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) insiders offloaded a considerable amount of shares over the past year could have raised some eyebrows amongst investors. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying versus if they selling is usually more beneficial, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, shareholders should take a deeper look if several insiders are selling stock over a specific time period.
While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Asbury Automotive Group
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the President, David Hult, for US$4.1m worth of shares, at about US$165 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$198. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 35% of David Hult's holding.
Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Asbury Automotive Group shares, than buying. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
NYSE:ABG Insider Trading Volume October 3rd 2021
I will like Asbury Automotive Group better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.
Insider Ownership
Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that Asbury Automotive Group insiders own 0.8% of the company, worth about US$31m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.
What Might The Insider Transactions At Asbury Automotive Group Tell Us?
The fact that there have been no Asbury Automotive Group insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by Asbury Automotive Group insiders. But we do like the fact that insiders own a fair chunk of the company. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Asbury Automotive Group. To assist with this, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Asbury Automotive Group.
Of course Asbury Automotive Group may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.
For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | The fact that multiple Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) insiders offloaded a considerable amount of shares over the past year could have raised some eyebrows amongst investors. NYSE:ABG Insider Trading Volume October 3rd 2021 I will like Asbury Automotive Group better if I see some big insider buys. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Asbury Automotive Group. | The fact that multiple Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) insiders offloaded a considerable amount of shares over the past year could have raised some eyebrows amongst investors. NYSE:ABG Insider Trading Volume October 3rd 2021 I will like Asbury Automotive Group better if I see some big insider buys. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Asbury Automotive Group shares, than buying. | NYSE:ABG Insider Trading Volume October 3rd 2021 I will like Asbury Automotive Group better if I see some big insider buys. The fact that multiple Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) insiders offloaded a considerable amount of shares over the past year could have raised some eyebrows amongst investors. The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Asbury Automotive Group Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the President, David Hult, for US$4.1m worth of shares, at about US$165 per share. | The fact that multiple Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) insiders offloaded a considerable amount of shares over the past year could have raised some eyebrows amongst investors. NYSE:ABG Insider Trading Volume October 3rd 2021 I will like Asbury Automotive Group better if I see some big insider buys. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Asbury Automotive Group shares, than buying. |
28721.0 | 2021-09-29 00:00:00 UTC | Consumer Sector Update for 09/29/2021: DLTR, ABG, VLTA, XLP, XLY | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/consumer-sector-update-for-09-29-2021%3A-dltr-abg-vlta-xlp-xly-2021-09-29 | nan | nan | Consumer stocks were flat to higher in Wednesday's premarket trading. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) was flat and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) was up 0.76% recently.
Dollar Tree (DLTR) was climbing past 6% after saying its board has increased the share repurchase authorization to $2.5 billion, reflecting an increase of $1.05 billion.
Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) was over 2% higher after announcing a deal with Larry H. Miller Group of Cos. to buy Larry H. Miller Dealerships and Total Care Auto, Powered by Landcar, for $3.2 billion.
Volta (VLTA) was gaining over 3% in value after saying it has been granted two utility patents by the US Patent and Trademark Office.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) was over 2% higher after announcing a deal with Larry H. Miller Group of Cos. to buy Larry H. Miller Dealerships and Total Care Auto, Powered by Landcar, for $3.2 billion. Consumer stocks were flat to higher in Wednesday's premarket trading. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) was flat and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) was up 0.76% recently. | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) was over 2% higher after announcing a deal with Larry H. Miller Group of Cos. to buy Larry H. Miller Dealerships and Total Care Auto, Powered by Landcar, for $3.2 billion. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) was flat and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) was up 0.76% recently. Dollar Tree (DLTR) was climbing past 6% after saying its board has increased the share repurchase authorization to $2.5 billion, reflecting an increase of $1.05 billion. | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) was over 2% higher after announcing a deal with Larry H. Miller Group of Cos. to buy Larry H. Miller Dealerships and Total Care Auto, Powered by Landcar, for $3.2 billion. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) was flat and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) was up 0.76% recently. Dollar Tree (DLTR) was climbing past 6% after saying its board has increased the share repurchase authorization to $2.5 billion, reflecting an increase of $1.05 billion. | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) was over 2% higher after announcing a deal with Larry H. Miller Group of Cos. to buy Larry H. Miller Dealerships and Total Care Auto, Powered by Landcar, for $3.2 billion. Consumer stocks were flat to higher in Wednesday's premarket trading. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) was flat and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) was up 0.76% recently. |
28722.0 | 2021-09-29 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury To Acquire Larry H. Miller Dealerships, And Total Care Auto | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-to-acquire-larry-h.-miller-dealerships-and-total-care-auto-2021-09-29 | nan | nan | (RTTNews) - Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) has entered into a definitive agreement with LHM Group to acquire Larry H. Miller dealerships, and Total Care Auto, Powered by Landcar. The purchase price of $3.2 billion includes approximately $740 million of real estate.
The company expects the acquisition will add approximately $5.7 billion in expected annualized revenues, which positions it well to execute five-year plan to generate $20 billion in annual revenue by 2025.
Asbury Automotive Group said the acquisition of these entities, and equity financing of $600 million, is expected to be approximately 14% accretive to 2022 earnings per share with 2024 EPS accretion anticipated to be approximately 20%.
Asbury noted that it has several other strategic acquisitions under contract, that are expected to add approximately $900 million in additional annualized revenues. These additional acquisitions are expected to drive total 2022 EPS accretion to approximately 20% and 2024 EPS accretion to approximately 28%.
Shares of Asbury Automotive Group were up 3% in pre-market trade on Wednesday.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | (RTTNews) - Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) has entered into a definitive agreement with LHM Group to acquire Larry H. Miller dealerships, and Total Care Auto, Powered by Landcar. The purchase price of $3.2 billion includes approximately $740 million of real estate. Asbury noted that it has several other strategic acquisitions under contract, that are expected to add approximately $900 million in additional annualized revenues. | (RTTNews) - Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) has entered into a definitive agreement with LHM Group to acquire Larry H. Miller dealerships, and Total Care Auto, Powered by Landcar. The company expects the acquisition will add approximately $5.7 billion in expected annualized revenues, which positions it well to execute five-year plan to generate $20 billion in annual revenue by 2025. Asbury noted that it has several other strategic acquisitions under contract, that are expected to add approximately $900 million in additional annualized revenues. | (RTTNews) - Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) has entered into a definitive agreement with LHM Group to acquire Larry H. Miller dealerships, and Total Care Auto, Powered by Landcar. The company expects the acquisition will add approximately $5.7 billion in expected annualized revenues, which positions it well to execute five-year plan to generate $20 billion in annual revenue by 2025. Asbury Automotive Group said the acquisition of these entities, and equity financing of $600 million, is expected to be approximately 14% accretive to 2022 earnings per share with 2024 EPS accretion anticipated to be approximately 20%. | (RTTNews) - Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) has entered into a definitive agreement with LHM Group to acquire Larry H. Miller dealerships, and Total Care Auto, Powered by Landcar. The company expects the acquisition will add approximately $5.7 billion in expected annualized revenues, which positions it well to execute five-year plan to generate $20 billion in annual revenue by 2025. Asbury Automotive Group said the acquisition of these entities, and equity financing of $600 million, is expected to be approximately 14% accretive to 2022 earnings per share with 2024 EPS accretion anticipated to be approximately 20%. |
28723.0 | 2021-09-29 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive to buy auto dealer, service firm for $3.2 bln | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-to-buy-auto-dealer-service-firm-for-%243.2-bln-2021-09-29-0 | nan | nan | Adds details from press statement
Sept 29 (Reuters) - Asbury Automotive Group Inc ABG.N said on Wednesday it would buy auto dealer Larry H. Miller Dealerships to expand into six western U.S. states.
Asbury is also buying auto service provider Total Care Auto and will pay a combined $3.2 billion.
The purchase price includes about $740 million of real estate assets, Asbury added.
Asbury, which operates 91 dealerships, said the purchase of Larry H. Miller will help it expand into Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Idaho, California and Washington.
(Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
((Abhijith.G@thomsonreuters.com;))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Adds details from press statement Sept 29 (Reuters) - Asbury Automotive Group Inc ABG.N said on Wednesday it would buy auto dealer Larry H. Miller Dealerships to expand into six western U.S. states. The purchase price includes about $740 million of real estate assets, Asbury added. Asbury, which operates 91 dealerships, said the purchase of Larry H. Miller will help it expand into Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Idaho, California and Washington. | Adds details from press statement Sept 29 (Reuters) - Asbury Automotive Group Inc ABG.N said on Wednesday it would buy auto dealer Larry H. Miller Dealerships to expand into six western U.S. states. Asbury is also buying auto service provider Total Care Auto and will pay a combined $3.2 billion. Asbury, which operates 91 dealerships, said the purchase of Larry H. Miller will help it expand into Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Idaho, California and Washington. | Adds details from press statement Sept 29 (Reuters) - Asbury Automotive Group Inc ABG.N said on Wednesday it would buy auto dealer Larry H. Miller Dealerships to expand into six western U.S. states. Asbury, which operates 91 dealerships, said the purchase of Larry H. Miller will help it expand into Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Idaho, California and Washington. (Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber) ((Abhijith.G@thomsonreuters.com;)) The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Adds details from press statement Sept 29 (Reuters) - Asbury Automotive Group Inc ABG.N said on Wednesday it would buy auto dealer Larry H. Miller Dealerships to expand into six western U.S. states. Asbury is also buying auto service provider Total Care Auto and will pay a combined $3.2 billion. The purchase price includes about $740 million of real estate assets, Asbury added. |
28724.0 | 2021-09-29 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive to buy auto dealer, service firm for $3.2 bln | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-to-buy-auto-dealer-service-firm-for-%243.2-bln-2021-09-29 | nan | nan | Sept 29 (Reuters) - Asbury Automotive Group Inc ABG.N said on Wednesday it would buy auto dealer Larry H. Miller Dealerships and auto service provider Total Care Auto for a combined $3.2 billion.
(Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
((Abhijith.G@thomsonreuters.com;))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Sept 29 (Reuters) - Asbury Automotive Group Inc ABG.N said on Wednesday it would buy auto dealer Larry H. Miller Dealerships and auto service provider Total Care Auto for a combined $3.2 billion. (Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber) ((Abhijith.G@thomsonreuters.com;)) The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Sept 29 (Reuters) - Asbury Automotive Group Inc ABG.N said on Wednesday it would buy auto dealer Larry H. Miller Dealerships and auto service provider Total Care Auto for a combined $3.2 billion. (Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber) ((Abhijith.G@thomsonreuters.com;)) The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Sept 29 (Reuters) - Asbury Automotive Group Inc ABG.N said on Wednesday it would buy auto dealer Larry H. Miller Dealerships and auto service provider Total Care Auto for a combined $3.2 billion. (Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber) ((Abhijith.G@thomsonreuters.com;)) The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Sept 29 (Reuters) - Asbury Automotive Group Inc ABG.N said on Wednesday it would buy auto dealer Larry H. Miller Dealerships and auto service provider Total Care Auto for a combined $3.2 billion. (Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber) ((Abhijith.G@thomsonreuters.com;)) The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. |
28725.0 | 2021-09-13 00:00:00 UTC | Investors Don't See Light At End Of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.'s (NYSE:ABG) Tunnel | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/investors-dont-see-light-at-end-of-asbury-automotive-group-inc.s-nyse%3Aabg-tunnel-2021-09 | nan | nan | When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 18x, you may consider Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) as a highly attractive investment with its 7.7x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be quite low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.
With earnings growth that's superior to most other companies of late, Asbury Automotive Group has been doing relatively well. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/E. If not, then existing shareholders have reason to be quite optimistic about the future direction of the share price.
NYSE:ABG Price Based on Past Earnings September 13th 2021
Keen to find out how analysts think Asbury Automotive Group's future stacks up against the industry? In that case, our free report is a great place to start.
Is There Any Growth For Asbury Automotive Group?
There's an inherent assumption that a company should far underperform the market for P/E ratios like Asbury Automotive Group's to be considered reasonable.
Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 171% gain to the company's bottom line. The strong recent performance means it was also able to grow EPS by 193% in total over the last three years. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been superb for the company.
Shifting to the future, estimates from the nine analysts covering the company suggest earnings growth is heading into negative territory, declining 1.8% over the next year. That's not great when the rest of the market is expected to grow by 13%.
In light of this, it's understandable that Asbury Automotive Group's P/E would sit below the majority of other companies. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/E has reached a floor yet with earnings going in reverse. There's potential for the P/E to fall to even lower levels if the company doesn't improve its profitability.
The Bottom Line On Asbury Automotive Group's P/E
While the price-to-earnings ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of earnings expectations.
We've established that Asbury Automotive Group maintains its low P/E on the weakness of its forecast for sliding earnings, as expected. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/E as they concede future earnings probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.
Plus, you should also learn about these 2 warning signs we've spotted with Asbury Automotive Group (including 1 which shouldn't be ignored).
You might be able to find a better investment than Asbury Automotive Group. If you want a selection of possible candidates, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a P/E below 20x (but have proven they can grow earnings).
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | NYSE:ABG Price Based on Past Earnings September 13th 2021 Keen to find out how analysts think Asbury Automotive Group's future stacks up against the industry? When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 18x, you may consider Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) as a highly attractive investment with its 7.7x P/E ratio. Shifting to the future, estimates from the nine analysts covering the company suggest earnings growth is heading into negative territory, declining 1.8% over the next year. | When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 18x, you may consider Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) as a highly attractive investment with its 7.7x P/E ratio. NYSE:ABG Price Based on Past Earnings September 13th 2021 Keen to find out how analysts think Asbury Automotive Group's future stacks up against the industry? The Bottom Line On Asbury Automotive Group's P/E While the price-to-earnings ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of earnings expectations. | NYSE:ABG Price Based on Past Earnings September 13th 2021 Keen to find out how analysts think Asbury Automotive Group's future stacks up against the industry? When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 18x, you may consider Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) as a highly attractive investment with its 7.7x P/E ratio. With earnings growth that's superior to most other companies of late, Asbury Automotive Group has been doing relatively well. | When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 18x, you may consider Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) as a highly attractive investment with its 7.7x P/E ratio. NYSE:ABG Price Based on Past Earnings September 13th 2021 Keen to find out how analysts think Asbury Automotive Group's future stacks up against the industry? With earnings growth that's superior to most other companies of late, Asbury Automotive Group has been doing relatively well. |
28726.0 | 2021-09-03 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive Group Breaks Below 200-Day Moving Average - Notable for ABG | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-group-breaks-below-200-day-moving-average-notable-for-abg-2021-09-03 | nan | nan | In trading on Friday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) crossed below their 200 day moving average of $175.66, changing hands as low as $175.30 per share. Asbury Automotive Group Inc shares are currently trading off about 3% on the day. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares, versus its 200 day moving average:
Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $91.52 per share, with $216.88 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $175.56.
Free Report: Top 7%+ Dividends (paid monthly)
Click here to find out which 9 other stocks recently crossed below their 200 day moving average »
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | In trading on Friday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) crossed below their 200 day moving average of $175.66, changing hands as low as $175.30 per share. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares, versus its 200 day moving average: Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $91.52 per share, with $216.88 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $175.56. Free Report: Top 7%+ Dividends (paid monthly) Click here to find out which 9 other stocks recently crossed below their 200 day moving average » The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | In trading on Friday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) crossed below their 200 day moving average of $175.66, changing hands as low as $175.30 per share. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares, versus its 200 day moving average: Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $91.52 per share, with $216.88 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $175.56. Free Report: Top 7%+ Dividends (paid monthly) Click here to find out which 9 other stocks recently crossed below their 200 day moving average » The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | In trading on Friday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) crossed below their 200 day moving average of $175.66, changing hands as low as $175.30 per share. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares, versus its 200 day moving average: Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $91.52 per share, with $216.88 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $175.56. Free Report: Top 7%+ Dividends (paid monthly) Click here to find out which 9 other stocks recently crossed below their 200 day moving average » The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | In trading on Friday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) crossed below their 200 day moving average of $175.66, changing hands as low as $175.30 per share. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares, versus its 200 day moving average: Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $91.52 per share, with $216.88 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $175.56. Asbury Automotive Group Inc shares are currently trading off about 3% on the day. |
28727.0 | 2021-08-04 00:00:00 UTC | Does Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) Deserve A Spot On Your Watchlist? | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/does-asbury-automotive-group-nyse%3Aabg-deserve-a-spot-on-your-watchlist-2021-08-04 | nan | nan | It's only natural that many investors, especially those who are new to the game, prefer to buy shares in 'sexy' stocks with a good story, even if those businesses lose money. But as Warren Buffett has mused, 'If you've been playing poker for half an hour and you still don't know who the patsy is, you're the patsy.' When they buy such story stocks, investors are all too often the patsy.
If, on the other hand, you like companies that have revenue, and even earn profits, then you may well be interested in Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG). While profit is not necessarily a social good, it's easy to admire a business that can consistently produce it. While a well funded company may sustain losses for years, unless its owners have an endless appetite for subsidizing the customer, it will need to generate a profit eventually, or else breathe its last breath.
How Fast Is Asbury Automotive Group Growing?
If you believe that markets are even vaguely efficient, then over the long term you'd expect a company's share price to follow its earnings per share (EPS). That makes EPS growth an attractive quality for any company. I, for one, am blown away by the fact that Asbury Automotive Group has grown EPS by 43% per year, over the last three years. That sort of growth never lasts long, but like a shooting star it is well worth watching when it happens.
One way to double-check a company's growth is to look at how its revenue, and earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margins are changing. I note that Asbury Automotive Group's revenue from operations was lower than its revenue in the last twelve months, so that could distort my analysis of its margins. Asbury Automotive Group shareholders can take confidence from the fact that EBIT margins are up from 4.7% to 6.8%, and revenue is growing. Ticking those two boxes is a good sign of growth, in my book.
The chart below shows how the company's bottom and top lines have progressed over time. Click on the chart to see the exact numbers.
NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue History August 4th 2021
You don't drive with your eyes on the rear-view mirror, so you might be more interested in this free report showing analyst forecasts for Asbury Automotive Group's future profits.
Are Asbury Automotive Group Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?
I like company leaders to have some skin in the game, so to speak, because it increases alignment of incentives between the people running the business, and its true owners. So it is good to see that Asbury Automotive Group insiders have a significant amount of capital invested in the stock. To be specific, they have US$32m worth of shares. That's a lot of money, and no small incentive to work hard. Even though that's only about 0.8% of the company, it's enough money to indicate alignment between the leaders of the business and ordinary shareholders.
Does Asbury Automotive Group Deserve A Spot On Your Watchlist?
Asbury Automotive Group's earnings per share have taken off like a rocket aimed right at the moon. That EPS growth certainly has my attention, and the large insider ownership only serves to further stoke my interest. At times fast EPS growth is a sign the business has reached an inflection point; and I do like those. So to my mind Asbury Automotive Group is worth putting on your watchlist; after all, shareholders do well when the market underestimates fast growing companies. Before you take the next step you should know about the 2 warning signs for Asbury Automotive Group (1 shouldn't be ignored!) that we have uncovered.
Although Asbury Automotive Group certainly looks good to me, I would like it more if insiders were buying up shares. If you like to see insider buying, too, then this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying, could be exactly what you're looking for.
Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue History August 4th 2021 You don't drive with your eyes on the rear-view mirror, so you might be more interested in this free report showing analyst forecasts for Asbury Automotive Group's future profits. If, on the other hand, you like companies that have revenue, and even earn profits, then you may well be interested in Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG). I like company leaders to have some skin in the game, so to speak, because it increases alignment of incentives between the people running the business, and its true owners. | If, on the other hand, you like companies that have revenue, and even earn profits, then you may well be interested in Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG). NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue History August 4th 2021 You don't drive with your eyes on the rear-view mirror, so you might be more interested in this free report showing analyst forecasts for Asbury Automotive Group's future profits. Are Asbury Automotive Group Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders? | If, on the other hand, you like companies that have revenue, and even earn profits, then you may well be interested in Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG). NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue History August 4th 2021 You don't drive with your eyes on the rear-view mirror, so you might be more interested in this free report showing analyst forecasts for Asbury Automotive Group's future profits. So to my mind Asbury Automotive Group is worth putting on your watchlist; after all, shareholders do well when the market underestimates fast growing companies. | If, on the other hand, you like companies that have revenue, and even earn profits, then you may well be interested in Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG). NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue History August 4th 2021 You don't drive with your eyes on the rear-view mirror, so you might be more interested in this free report showing analyst forecasts for Asbury Automotive Group's future profits. It's only natural that many investors, especially those who are new to the game, prefer to buy shares in 'sexy' stocks with a good story, even if those businesses lose money. |
28728.0 | 2021-07-28 00:00:00 UTC | Validea Joel Greenblatt Strategy Daily Upgrade Report - 7/28/2021 | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/validea-joel-greenblatt-strategy-daily-upgrade-report-7-28-2021-2021-07-28 | nan | nan | The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Earnings Yield Investor model based on the published strategy of Joel Greenblatt. This value model looks for companies with high return on capital and earnings yields.
ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 60% to 90% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. is an automotive retailer in the United States. The Company owns and operates approximately 90 dealerships, consisting of 113 franchises. It also operates approximately 25 collision repair centers. Its stores offer a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. Its new vehicle revenues include new vehicle sales and lease transactions arranged by dealerships with third-party financial institutions.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: PASS
Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC.
Full Guru Analysis for ABG
Full Factor Report for ABG
LOGITECH INTERNATIONAL SA (USA) (LOGI) is a large-cap growth stock in the Computer Peripherals industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 70% to 80% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Logitech International S.A. is a holding company. The Company designs, manufactures and markets products that allow people to connect through music, gaming, video, computing, and other digital platforms. The Company operates through peripheral segment. The Company offers its products to a network of domestic and international customers, including direct sales to retailers, e-tailers, and indirect sales through distributors. The Company's retail network across the world includes consumer electronics distributors, retailers, mass merchandisers, specialty electronics stores, computer and telecommunications stores, value-added resellers and online merchants. Its music solutions are focused primarily on mobile speakers, including its UE BOOM family of mobile wireless speakers, its Jaybird wireless audio wearables for sports and active lifestyles, and its custom in-ear headphones. It offers a range of gaming gear for gamers, including mice, keyboards, headsets, gamepads and steering wheels.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: FAIL
Detailed Analysis of LOGITECH INTERNATIONAL SA (USA)
Full Guru Analysis for LOGI
Full Factor Report for LOGI
SCIPLAY CORP (SCPL) is a small-cap growth stock in the Software & Programming industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 80% to 90% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: SciPlay Corporation developer and publisher of digital games on mobile and Web platforms. The Company has one operating segment with one business activity, developing and monetizing social games. The Company offers seven games, including social casino games Jackpot Party Casino, Gold Fish Casino, Hot Shot Casino and Quick Hit Slots, and casual games MONOPOLY Slots, Bingo Showdown and 88 Fortunes Slots. Its social casino games typically include slots-style play and occasionally include table games-style game play, while its casual games blend slots-style or bingo game play with adventure game features. Its games are offered and played across multiple platforms, including Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon. The Company has access to a library of more than 1,500 slot and table games provided by Scientific Games Corporation and its subsidiaries.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: PASS
Detailed Analysis of SCIPLAY CORP
Full Guru Analysis for SCPL
Full Factor Report for SCPL
RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES CORP (RTX) is a large-cap growth stock in the Aerospace & Defense industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 0% to 100% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Raytheon Technologies Corp, formerly United Technologies Corporation, is an aerospace and defense company that is engaged in providing advanced systems and services for commercial, military and government customers worldwide. The Company's operations are classified into four principal business segments: Collins Aerospace Systems, which is a global provider of aerospace and defense products and aftermarket service solutions for aircraft manufacturers, defense and commercial space operations; Pratt & Whitney is engaged in suppling aircraft engines for commercial, military, business jet and general aviation customers; Raytheon Intelligence & Space is a developer and provider of integrated sensor and communication systems for advanced missions, advanced training, and cyber and software solutions to intelligence, defense, federal and commercial customers; and Raytheon Missiles & Defense segment, which is a designer, developer and producer of integrated air and missile defense systems.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: PASS
Detailed Analysis of RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES CORP
Full Guru Analysis for RTX
Full Factor Report for RTX
More details on Validea's Joel Greenblatt strategy
Joel Greenblatt Stock Ideas
About Joel Greenblatt: In his 2005 bestseller The Little Book That Beats The Market, hedge fund manager Joel Greenblatt laid out a stunningly simple way to beat the market using two -- and only two -- fundamental variables. The "Magic Formula," as he called it, produced back-tested returns of 30.8 percent per year from 1988 through 2004, more than doubling the S&P 500's 12.4 percent return during that time. Greenblatt also produced exceptional returns as managing partner at Gotham Capital, a New York City-based hedge fund he founded. The firm averaged a remarkable 40 percent annualized return over more than two decades.
About Validea: Validea is aninvestment researchservice that follows the published strategies of investment legends. Validea offers both stock analysis and model portfolios based on gurus who have outperformed the market over the long-term, including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Martin Zweig. For more information about Validea, click here
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. Full Guru Analysis for ABG Full Factor Report for ABG LOGITECH INTERNATIONAL SA (USA) (LOGI) is a large-cap growth stock in the Computer Peripherals industry. The Company designs, manufactures and markets products that allow people to connect through music, gaming, video, computing, and other digital platforms. | Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. Full Guru Analysis for ABG Full Factor Report for ABG LOGITECH INTERNATIONAL SA (USA) (LOGI) is a large-cap growth stock in the Computer Peripherals industry. ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Its stores offer a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. | ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. Full Guru Analysis for ABG Full Factor Report for ABG LOGITECH INTERNATIONAL SA (USA) (LOGI) is a large-cap growth stock in the Computer Peripherals industry. Its social casino games typically include slots-style play and occasionally include table games-style game play, while its casual games blend slots-style or bingo game play with adventure game features. | ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. Full Guru Analysis for ABG Full Factor Report for ABG LOGITECH INTERNATIONAL SA (USA) (LOGI) is a large-cap growth stock in the Computer Peripherals industry. The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Earnings Yield Investor model based on the published strategy of Joel Greenblatt. |
28729.0 | 2021-07-27 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive Group Inc (ABG) Q2 2021 Earnings Call Transcript | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-group-inc-abg-q2-2021-earnings-call-transcript-2021-07-27 | nan | nan | Image source: The Motley Fool.
Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG)
Q2 2021 Earnings Call
Jul 27, 2021, 10:00 a.m. ET
Contents:
Prepared Remarks
Questions and Answers
Call Participants
Prepared Remarks:
Operator
Good day and welcome to the Asbury Automotive Group Q2 2021 Earnings Conference Call. Today's conference is being recorded.
At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Karen Reid, Vice President and Treasurer. Please go ahead.
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Karen Reid -- Vice President of Corporate Planning and Analysis & Treasurer
Thanks, operator. And good morning, everyone. As you noted, today's call is being recorded and will be available for replay later this afternoon. Welcome to Asbury Automotive Group's second quarter 2021earnings call The press release detailing Asbury's second quarter results was issued earlier this morning and is posted on our website at asburyauto.com.
Participating with me today are David Hult, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Dan Clara, our Senior Vice President of Operations. At the conclusion of our remarks, we will open up the call for questions and I will be available later for any follow-up questions that you may have.
Before we begin, we must remind you that the discussion during the call today is likely to contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements other than those which are historical in nature, including those statements relating to the duration and contemplated impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and financial performance, the impact of the chip shortage as well as the financial projections and expectations about our products, markets and growth.
All forward-looking statements are subject to significant uncertainties and actual results may differ materially from those suggested by the statements, including potential impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic and the semiconductor chip shortage on us, our industry and our customers, suppliers, vendors and business partners.
For information regarding certain of the risks that may cause actual results to differ, please see our filings with the SEC from time to time, including our Form 10-K for the year ended December 2020, any subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our earnings release issued earlier today. We expressly disclaim any responsibility to update forward-looking statements.
In addition, certain non-GAAP financial measures as defined under SEC rules maybe discussed on this call. As required by applicable SEC rules, we provide reconciliations of any such non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures on our website. We've also posted an updated investor presentation on our website, asburyauto.com, highlighting our second quarter results.
It is now my pleasure to hand the call over to our CEO, David Hult. David?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, Karen. And good morning, everyone. Welcome to our second quarterearnings call In our earnings release this morning, we reported adjusted EPS of $7.78, an all-time record, up 209% over the prior year. That continues to recover from prior year lows despite supply disruptions due to the chip shortage. This strong execution in the face of a challenging macro environment enabled us to deliver a strong gross margin of 19.2%, an expansion of 240 basis points versus the second quarter last year.
We've also stayed disciplined in managing expenses, resulting in SG&A as a percentage of gross profit of 54.2%, an 850 basis point improvement versus prior year. Our total revenue for the quarter was up 79% year-over-year and total gross profit was up 105%. Our balance sheet remained strong due to our performance in cash flow. Our net leverage ended this quarter at 1.6 times. We're in a perfect position to deploy capital and are aggressively pursuing opportunities for growth.
A quick update on our strategic five-year plan as we announced six months then. Same-store revenue growth, assuming 2020 annualized revenue for Park Place, is up double-digit and is exceeding expectations. Regarding Clicklane, our unit sales are pacing ahead of our plan.
Regarding acquisitions, we have about $400 million in revenue under LOI right now. We are also reviewing other opportunities totaling over $8 billion in revenue. We are confident in our goal of $5 billion in revenue over the next five years. With these trending results, we maintain full confidence in our execution on our growth strategy. We'll continue to provide quarterly updates on our five-year plan.
Finally, I'd like to thank all the hard-working men and women in our company who are focused on our journey to become the most guest-centric retail automotive company. Their passion to serve is inspiring. Thank you.
I'll now hand the call over to Dan to discuss our operating performance. Dan? Thank you, David. And good morning, everyone. My remarks will pertain to our same-store performance compared to the second quarter of 2020 and comparable stores in 2019 when applicable, unless stated otherwise. Looking at new vehicles, based on current market conditions, we are focused on being opportunistic with our inventory and improving grosses to maximize profit. Our new average gross profit per vehicle was $3,496, up $1,599 or 84% from the prior-year period. All segment margins were up significantly from the prior year period. At the end of June, our total new vehicle inventory was $226 million and our days supply was at an all-time low of 17 days, down 35 days from the prior year. Some of our stores were at five-day supply during the quarter as we experienced major challenges due to the lack of inventory. With no clear understanding of when production will return to normal levels, we expect that days supply to remain low throughout the remainder of the year. Turning to used vehicles. Our used retail volume increased 29%, while gross margin was 10%, up 230 basis points from the prior year, representing an average gross profit per vehicle of $2,635. As a result of our performance, our gross profit was up 96%. Our used vehicle inventory ended the quarter at 286 million, which represents a 37-day supply, up 11 days from the prior year. We've remained focused on sourcing inventory that will generate a fair return. Turning to F&I. Our strong consistent and sustainable growth in F&I delivered an increase of $160 to $1,898 per vehicle retail from the prior quarter -- prior year quarter. In the second quarter, our front-end yield per vehicle increased $1,448 per vehicle to an all-time record of $5,004. Turning to parts and service. Our parts and service revenue increased 41% in the quarter. Gross profit increased 48% and total fixed margin was 62.3%, up 300 basis points. I would like to make a couple of additional comments about our performance compared to the second quarter of 2019 on a comparable store basis. New unit sales were up 11%. New vehicle gross profit was up 172%. Used retail unit sales were up 10%. Used retail gross profit was up 88%. F&I per vehicle retailed increased $261 or 18%. Front-end yield per vehicle retailed increased $1,831 or 64%. Parts and service customer pay revenue and gross profit increased 9%. And now, I would like to provide an update on our omni-channel initiatives. In 2016, we started focusing strategically on several omni-channel initiatives. One of those initiative is to increase organic website traffic. Through our sophisticated digital marketing efforts since Q2 2016, our organic traffic of unique visitors to our dealership website has increased by over 6 million consumers, an increase of over 5,000%. Another initiative is to increase online service appointment. We achieved bookings of over 142,000 online service appointments, an increase of over 400% since Q2 2016 and an all-time record. This component positively impact service retention and increases the dollars per repair order. And of course, Clicklane, the latest evolution in our omni-channel strategy, which was fully active at all of our dealerships for the complete quarter. Before I go over the Clicklane metrics, I want to remind you the unique features of Clicklane as well as highlight our recent enhancements as we are constantly evolving the tool to provide our guest with a seamless and complete buying experience and strengthening that relationship. Penny perfect loan payoffs, a loan marketplace, which now includes more than 35 lenders. On average, nine out of 10 customers that apply for a loan are approved through Clicklane. The ability to sign all documents online via DocuSign with 14 of our lenders now accepting documents executed via DocuSign. The in-tool service and commission appointment scheduler with ability to purchase parts and accessories within the tool as well. We recently partnered with Salty to deliver transparency and convenience by providing a one-stop shopping experience for our guests to include their car insurance needs. Salty is an embedded ecosystem for our consumers that provides competitive personalized insurance quotes from over a dozen large national carriers. Clicklane guest benefit from an intuitive platform that retrieves a competitive quote from major carriers and provides a custom-built policy tailored toward the consumers' wants and needs. Asbury customers spend over $350 million in insurance every year. Through out partnership with Salty, we receive a commission on the premium of each auto insurance policy as well as any additional policies that the guest originates. We also partner with Insignia to enhance our accessories tool and to enable visualization within Clicklane. Asbury customers often look to third-parties to outfit their vehicles after the point of purchase. This new integration allows customers to add accessories in the back end of their Clicklane account. This enhancement allows customers to fully visualize accessories on the vehicle of their choice in real time. Now, with a full quarter at all stores under our belt, we would like to share some performance metrics. Of our vehicles sold through Clicklane, 54% of them were new vehicles and 46% were used. As a reminder, with Push Start, 80% of our sales were used vehicles. We expect annualized volume through Clicklane of at least 30,000 vehicles by year-end. 93% of our transactions this quarter were with customers that were new to Asbury's dealership network. Average transaction time is eight minutes for cash deals and 14 minutes for finance deals. Average down-payment for new vehicles is $10,252, more than 4 times our store average of $2,242. Average down-payment for used vehicles is $4,716, more than double our store average of $2,078. F&I PVR of $2,066, 64% of new car customers and 68% of used car customers chose to take delivery at home, an increase of over 15% from the first quarter. Average credit score is higher than the average credit score at our stores. Trades taken through Clicklane are averaging the front-end PVR of $2,392. Trades taken through Clicklane are turning on average in 19 days. As expected, Clicklane customers are converting at greater rates than traditional Internet leads. Not surprisingly, we are quite excited about the performance of Clicklane thus far as it is tracking ahead of target. And finally, I would like to take this opportunity to express appreciation to all of our teammates in the field for their continued focus on the guest experience, their commitment to continuous improvement and their perseverance. I will now hand the call over to Karen to discuss our financial performance. Karen?
Karen Reid -- Vice President of Corporate Planning and Analysis & Treasurer
Thank you, Dan. I would like to provide some financial highlights, which marks yet another record quarter for our company. For additional details on our financial performance for the quarter, I refer you to our financial supplement in our press release dated today, July 27, 2021.
Overall, compared to the second quarter of last year, our actions to manage gross profit and control expenses resulted in a second quarter adjusted operating margin of 8.4%, an increase of 280 basis points above the same period last year and an all-time record. And adjusted net income increased 211% to $151.7 million, displaying our resilience through these interesting times.
For comparison to our pre-COVID performance thus compared to the second quarter of 2019 for all stores, our total revenue was up 43%. Total gross profit was up 69% and total gross margin was up 280 basis points. New unit sales were up 20%, while used retail unit sales were up 21%. New margins improved 510 basis points, while used retail margins improved 260 basis points. Total F&I revenue was up 33%. Total parts and service revenue was up 30%. Our SG&A as a percentage of gross profit improved 1,380 basis points and our adjusted operating margin improved 370 basis points.
Now, back to current results. Net income for the second quarter 2021 was adjusted for real estate net gains of $0.5 million or $0.02 per diluted share. Net income for the second quarter 2020 was adjusted for $1.2 million or $0.5 per diluted share legal settlement gain.
Our effective tax rate was 24.7% for the second quarter 2021 compared to 25.2% in 2020. Floor plan interest expense for the quarter decreased by $2 million over the prior year quarter, driven primarily by lower inventory levels, coupled with lower LIBOR rates.
With respect to capital deployed this quarter, we exercised our purchase option on the Park Place properties utilizing approximately $33 million of our cash on balance sheet, with the remainder $184 million financed through a mortgage facility. In addition, we spent approximately $15 million on capital expenditures and we repaid approximately $9 million of debt.
Also, in planning for our new Plano Acura site, we sold and leased back our Plano Acura facility, resulting in incoming funds of $4 million, net of its mortgage payoff. As a result of our operational performance, our balance sheet remains in a very strong position and we ended the quarter with approximately $576 million of liquidity comprised of cash, floor plan offset accounts and availability on both our used lines and revolving credit facility.
Also, at the end of the quarter, our net leverage ratio stood at 1.6 times, well below our targeted net leverage of 3 times. As we look forward to the remainder of 2021, we anticipate similar conditions to what we have seen this quarter. New vehicle inventory supplies are likely to remain low and unpredictable through at least the end of the year.
Overall, as we did in Q2, we are still planning to a $16 million SAAR environment that will keep our business nimble and flexible with an emphasis on gross margins and SG&A expense management. One shift we're highlighting is that as the economy opens up more, we expect our parts and service business to return to its historical growth rate.
In closing, I would also like to thank our teams across the business who continue to work tirelessly during this unprecedented times to ensure our current and long-term success. This concludes our prepared remarks.
We will now turn the call over to the operator and take your questions. Operator?
Questions and Answers:
Operator
Thank you. [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Rick Nelson with Stephens.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst
Thanks. Good morning. Nice quarter. David, I'd like to ask about the acquisition environment. You've got $400 million now in LOI. If you could speak to the pricing that you're seeing there and this additional $8 billion that's in active discussions, how does the pricing look there?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Rick, thanks for the question and good morning. It's really a mix. As you can imagine, there's a lot of different -- excuse me, sellers out there right now that would like to work multiples off of COVID earnings. And the key from our perspective is to have a blended look at it and stay disciplined on our approach. So, I would say, it's a little bit all over the board.
We've probably, in the last six months, walked away from $3 billion or $4 billion in business because we just didn't feel like it was priced appropriately. We feel very confident about the $400 million under LOI as far as the locations and brands and how they fit into our portfolio. And the other $8 billion and we're assessing right now, it's actually closer to $9 million, it's the same thing. They are a little bit larger in size, so it's a little bit longer conversations and they're a little bit slower to proceed. So, still up in the year and what the multiples will be for there, but what we have under LOI, we feel really confident with where we've landed.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst
Thanks for that. So [Phonetic], on the inventory, I can appreciate you don't have a lot of visibility as to when suppliers will normalize from the current 17 days. But when things do normalize, do you think the OEMs will run tighter on inventory than they have in the past or do they go back to their prior habits? It seems everybody is more profitable in a tighter supply environment.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Rick, it's a great question and one that I certainly don't know the answer to. I would say, they've done a fantastic job at managing the chip shortage and really trying to produce vehicles that consumers want to purchase. And we're very thankful for that and the partnership. There is a lot of talk internally with the manufacturers about operating in this environment. I'm hopeful that when things normalize, we don't quite settle back in at the 70, 80 days supply, we run a good 20 days below that.
Too early to tell. I think next year is going to be a strong year for retail automotive. And then we should start to see a lot of electric vehicles come into the market soon after that. So, interesting times. As you look forward even with that coming back a little bit, I think you look at the transactions that are taking place online and how that will grow over time. There's still some opportunity with SG&A even if those margins come somewhat closer to pre-COVID numbers.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst
You mentioned electric vehicles. Do you think overtime that the OEMs with EVs that they start going direct-to-consumer and how do you think that impacts the traditional dealers like Asbury?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. We feel that the best model of supply to the consumer is through the dealer franchise system. These cars are very complex. People need to be able to communicate locally. And I think we're in the perfect position to do that, it's a very mature system. The dealer body is embracing and welcoming electric vehicles and certainly invest -- making a lot of investments in training and equipment and material. So, we feel really strongly about the future for the franchise model, especially with the online transactions that are coming. I think the direct-to-consumer is really all about the online transaction. And as the franchise dealer adapts to that, it seems like a winning model.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst
And if you could speak to overall profitability of a Clicklane sale compared to an in-store sale, the F&I attachment, how does that look relative to in-store overall profits?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. The front-end margin on Clicklane right now in the quarter ran about $250 to $300 below the store average and the F&I was mixed. It was a little bit higher on used F&I and a little bit lower on new, but it averaged out similar. We're really happy with the growth rate of Clicklane with the sales in the adaption. And we're the smallest public out there and you heard one pays for 30,000 sales and you've heard some of our peers.
So, we're excited about the direction that we're going. And again, these are 30,000 sales that were 100% completed online. Nine out of 10 people are getting financed, eight out of 10 are being done automatically, if you will, instant approval. Of the 35 lenders, a little over 18 of them have instant decisioning. So they're getting their answers in 45 seconds, which is really fast. And now that we have a good handful or, I should say, a dozen banks accepting DocuSign, it's making it that much more convenient as well. So, very optimistic. It's going to continue to grow. And we see good upside and opportunity with our partnership with Salty as well.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst
Thanks for all the color. Good luck.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, Rick.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from John Murphy with Bank of America.
John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Good morning, everybody. David, just on the inventory shortage, I'm just curious what you're seeing on vehicles in transit coming in the next month or two. I mean, it just seems like the inventory is crunching a little bit tighter, I mean, saying there is volatility and unknowns kind of code for -- it's getting a bit tougher. And I'm just curious, what you're seeing and how you're going to handle what seems to be a tightening situation on a new vehicle side which is actually crunching sales in the July plus period?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure, John, I'll start and then Dan can jump in if he wants. We came into this quarter anticipating July and August to be probably the toughest months for availability in the sense of what the demand is going to be relevant to what we'll receive. What we're experiencing so far in July is just that. Again, the manufacturers are doing a great job with what they have and producing vehicles and getting them out to us, but it's difficult. I mean, the demand is high right now and we anticipate this quarter to be pretty tough. Don't know about September, you get some seasonality adjustment after Labor Day. So we're hopeful that we'll see an incremental increase in days supply as we go into the fourth quarter, but well behind where we anticipate we should be.
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President, Operations
Yeah. The only thing I would add to that, John -- good morning by the way -- is, we have July and August is what we expected it to be the lowest months. But also to David's point, the good job that the OEMs are doing, building the inventory that the consumer wants is also allowing us to be very good at selling on order vehicles and delivering them as soon as they're hitting the lot. So, a lot of benefits to that. Our turn rate is very high. And we'll just continue to navigate throughout the next two months and we know that we have the support from the OEMs on shipping of the inventory.
John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst
That's helpful. And when you think about backfilling for this, I mean, is there enough used inventory to which you can transfer some of these customers over for -- are you finding that consumers are willing to wait in sort of, in some cases, an indeterminate amount of time for the vehicle that they want. I mean, what sort of the capture rate on the used side? And is that used inventory even available to kind of make that kind of push to the consumer?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. Great question. The inventory, although it's a little bit harder to find, but it is available out there. And the great news is, like I mentioned earlier, we do have a pretty good amount of sold orders coming our way. And the biggest stream of inventory for our used car department is coming from the trade. And then, we also have specific items that are only available to the body [Phonetic] first-come-first-serve, which will be your least earnings and also your -- some of the loaner cars as well.
So, are consumers willing to wait for the vehicle of their choice? Yes, we're seeing a lot more patience from the consumer standpoint, waiting an additional few weeks for the car of their choice is definitely not an issue. And again, that goes back to what I said it earlier, it allows us to really have a very high turn rate when those new cars come in.
John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Got you. And can you pre-sell that used as well because you know what's going to be coming in and trade, I mean, can you work that deal ahead of time? Is that something that's possible?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah, we can definitely -- yes. To answer your question is yes. We can market for a lack of a better term on a retail standpoint, we can market still to the consumer, but we're not able to process any of the paperwork until the mother deal or the first deal is completed.
John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Got you. And then, if you think about the SG&A gross, I mean, obviously you're -- I mean, you're getting the benefit of very high grosses, but you're also clearly executing well. So it's a combination of the two. I mean, as we step forward into a normal period, let's say, hopefully in 2022, how much of this front-end yields do you think you can hold on to you? And at the same time, how much of the SG&A savings do you think you can hold on to? I mean, obviously there is a lot of variables in that equation or in that question.
But when you think about things normalizing, I mean, north of $5,000 on front-end yield is $1,500 or $2,000 higher than we would typically think about this stuff and SG&A to gross is 10 points lower than we typically think about this stuff, even I mean that's maybe even a little bit better than that. How should we think about those two metrics going forward in a normal state? It's tough to answer.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
It's a great question, John. And I'll try and answer as best I can. Yeah, as we sit here today, I think we're a different company than we were pre-COVID both in the expenses that we cut, in the brand mix that we have being almost 50% luxury. So, I think, post-COVID to use that term '22 and forward will float well above our past margins pre-COVID. And we see opportunities with SG&A going forward through our digitization of our sales online. So, while margins may fall back a little bit, not back to where they were but lower than where they are today, we believe there is upside and expense down the road. So we think we're in a very healthy position to still create strong returns, low SG&A and great operating margin.
John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Okay. And then, just lastly on the five-year plan, I mean, you're saying you're running ahead. If we strip out the pressures of market dynamics at the moment, it's hard to disagree within -- you seem like you're probably running on an execution basis well ahead of plan. Clicklane is firing fairly well. I mean, how do you think about reassessing the five-year plan and maybe giving us an update or where do you think that will ultimately land? I mean, how should we think about that? Because that's now just given your performance not necessarily time, but just given how well you perform, it seems a little dated.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
John, it is a fair point, but I would also respectfully say patience is tough in these markets. We're only six months in. I would say, depending upon how the chips fall on the M&A side in the next few months, that could certainly warrant and update. Our same-store revenue is probably best to reassess that when we hit the 12-month period, we're well ahead of that $2 billion target at this point in time. But we also don't want to get too far ahead of our skis and let 12 months to normalize to kind of see where we're at. But to your point, I understand that where we sit here today, what we have under LOI, what we're looking at the potential there to far exceed it is there, but I really don't want to get ahead of ourselves because it's not in the bank, so to speak.
John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Got you. Okay. Thank you very much guys. I appreciate it.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President, Operations
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from Adam Jonas with Morgan Stanley.
Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Hey, everybody. Can you hear me?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure, can. Good morning.
Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Great. Great, great. I might have missed this. Did you actually disclose how many units were sold on Clicklane?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
No, Adam, we didn't, but I'll tell you, it was just under 4,500 units in the quarter.
Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Okay. Thanks for that. And I don't know, of the 4,500, how many would you say were kind of fully -- like digitally fulfilled, kind of -- sorry, I'm sorry to use the word but Carvana ask if you will and I know they're not, you don't I mean like what you would describe as the most digitally fulfilled of the 4,500.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. So we quote that number different than Push Start because Push Start was more of a semi-completed online and completed in the store. And I'm going to use to round that 4,500. They were 100% completed online in the sense of it was paid for a signed up. When we pull credit on Clicklane, they're hard falls on the credit, their instant approval are real, the payoffs are done in the signage through DocuSign.
Now, if they pick a lender and they sign up everything on DocuSign and it's lended that doesn't accept DocuSign, then we're presenting some new documents on delivery. If the bank accepts DocuSign, it's all said and done and payment online is be our strife relationship that we have. So, they're all completed online, there's nothing additional coming in. If they start on Clicklane and then they come in the store and finish it, that is not a Clicklane sale to us.
Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
All right. Appreciate the color, David. And just finally, Dave, from your experience, what can you say about the parts and service profile or the revenue derived from parts and service and maintenance, etc, on the EVs coming into your base versus the ICE equivalent vehicle? I didn't know if there was -- I realize the numbers are still small, but the parks are -- the Park is growing geometrically and you'll get more and more of these units. I'm just curious what color you can give us?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. Every quarter we kind of looked at service in three different buckets and we can't control warranty and internally is what it is. So we focus on customer pay. So, from that standpoint, the three buckets are combustible engine, hybrid cars and then EV or complete electric cars and this is going to change. But right now, for the last few quarters it's very consistent, that's the highest dollar spent on electric vehicles. And I think it's first generation technology. There's a lot of software glitches and issues with that. We think that will change over time, but we are also of the belief that our service retention will go up double digits because that consumer will have to come back for us for service because of the complexity with the vehicle.
So, we're very excited and bullish on electric vehicles and where we're going. We're already working on them in our collision center. We certainly were touring last week in some of our stores, which is done a lot of EV cars in there for maintenance. So, we think we're well positioned then. I think over time the dollars will come down, but they still need brakes, batteries -- excuse me -- brakes and everything else, tires [Speech Overlap]. We have actually already replaced some of those batteries. So when I brought that up, it is true. But the oil change in that, sense combustible engine cars are made so well nowadays, there really isn't a whole lot breakdown and there's really no money to be made in oil changes.
Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
I appreciate the extra color there. If I can just slip one more in, are the OEMs that are using franchises to distribute EVs? Are they coming to you with a bit more stringent -- if you want to be the authorized retailer of Hummer or electric Corvette or whatever it might be that you need to make investments in people and technology diagnostic software, etc, at the point of service and sale in order to get authorized, are you kind of seeing that? I would imagine that could play to your advantage too versus a lot of the mom and pops.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
We do see that. And we've made a lot of investments already and will continue to make more investments both in physical training and equipment. But naturally that would be requirements from the OEMs, as you'd expect. I mean if you're going to have the opportunity to sell the vehicle, you certainly have to be trained and have the equipment to work on the car as well.
Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Thanks, David.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you very much.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from Rajat Gupta with JPMorgan.
Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst
Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking the question. I just had a follow-up question on Clicklane. The 30,000 units that you mentioned for the full-year 2021, if we exclude Clicklane units from the overall business, would the same-store units still be up for 2021? Just trying to get a sense of how much of the units being sold on Clicklane is incremental to what your existing business would have done either way. And I had a follow-up. Thanks.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. As Dan stated in his script, 93% of the Clicklane customers were new to Asbury. So we hadn't sold them a vehicle before. We think that number will change over time, but it's a new tool. And it's 4,500 sales in the quarter. I can tell you, in the quarter, it was growing at a little bit over 20% a month from April to May and May to June. And we're continuing to see that growth in July. So it's just a logical full transactional tool. They're not soft pulls on credits, there is no issues with the lending.
We do have 35, but only about 18 of them have instant decisioning and only a dozen of them are accepting DocuSign. So still we have progress to go there. But between instant decisioning and the banks that do accept DocuSign, it's a very seamless transaction. And logically, if you can do the transaction in 14, 15 minutes at home, have it delivered to your house, why would just sit in the showroom for two hours? And I would tell you, for lack of a better term nationally in the quarter, the country opened up traffic and everything got back to normal, yet the home deliveries went up 15% over the prior quarter to 65%. So, we certainly see the benefit and our consumers are seeing the benefit in the tool.
Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst
Got it. So, you're saying, I mean, in that 30,000 target that you had for the full year for Clicklane in your new and used combined, I mean, on a run-rate basis, it seems like almost 15% of your units overall.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Right.
Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst
And all of that is like incremental to the business basically or at least majority of that. And the installed business can also grow simultaneously. Is that fair to you?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
It is fair. Again, this tool is new. So, does the 93% stick for the next three quarters, the next three years? I couldn't give guidance on that. I would just logically say that tool is going to continue to grow as the awareness gets out there and there will certainly be incremental sales. It's a little challenging right now with low days supply to see what you could really sell, it's hard to sell something online you don't have. And you have the sophisticated sales professionals that we have in the store that are selling deep into the pipeline, meaning, well before these cars arrive.
Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst
Got it, got it. Great. Thanks for the color there. I just had a question on just the employee headcount, just following up on the SG&A productivity question. What's the current employee count as a company? Could you remind us including Park Place, where do we stand today also taking into account like some of the layoffs that you had last year?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Just over 8,300 associates currently on staff.
Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst
Got it. Got it. That's helpful. And just one last one in parts and services. Really nice recovery here in the second quarter, customer pay in particular. You mentioned last month around some part supply shortages, which was holding warranty. Could you give us a sense where we are there? How do you see that coming back? And can we expect this kind of growth rate that you saw on a two-year term basis continue here and in the third quarter as well? Thanks.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure, Rajat. We absolutely expect the parts and service numbers to continue into the third quarter that we're currently seeing. Some of it is, people have been sheltering in place per year and they're just catching up on maintenance from the car sitting and some of it is planning trips for the summer and doing different things like that. So, we anticipate a very strong summer for parts and service. As far as the parts business, again, the OEMs are doing a really great job. It's hit or miss and we certainly do have some parts issues with some brands. But overall, I wouldn't say it's materially holding us back at this point as a company.
Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst
Got it. Great. Thanks for all the color and good luck.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you. Take care.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from Stephanie Moore with Truist.
Stephanie Moore -- Truist -- Analyst
Hi, good morning. Thank you for the question.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Good morning.
Stephanie Moore -- Truist -- Analyst
I wanted to touch on your Clicklane platform again. And if you could kind of give us an update on where we stand on marketing the platform in your existing territories as well as from your plans to expand the platform into some territories that are not legacy Asbury market. So, any update there would be helpful. Thank you.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure, Stephanie. Right now -- and I'm sure it's the same for all our peers. I don't think anyone is spending a tremendous amount of dollars on marketing simply because the inventories are so light. You're marketing to some you can't sell. So, I think we'll keep the marketing dollars governed right now and so we can see inventory return. To your point about entering a market on the pre-owned side that we don't currently occupy brick-and-mortar, we absolutely intend to do that. That is part of our omni-channel approach, that is part of our SG&A benefit we think we can do it, more efficient, faster and retain more dollars by doing it this way. I would say, somewhere toward the end of the year, beginning of next year, you'll see us enter into new markets on the pre-owned side.
Stephanie Moore -- Truist -- Analyst
Great. Thank you so much. And that's it from me.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from Bret Jordan with Jefferies.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Hey. Good morning, guys.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Good morning.
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President, Operations
Good morning, Bret.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
On the Clicklane, could you talk about -- yeah, I guess, 93% new customers, could you talk about geographic reach and how far are you sending these cars out? And I guess, is 65% home delivery? Is there a Dixie Cup circle that you're working in that you can't go outside of? And I guess the same kind of question on new vehicles. Is there any restriction as far as selling cars in markets where you don't own franchises?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Good morning, Bret. Great question. To your point, I mean, 65% of our consumers are electing to take delivery at home. We're not advertising outside of our primary area, for a lack of a better term. We stay in and abide by all the OEM rules when it comes down to that. We have seen the vast majority of our in-home deliveries that we're seeing is taking place, I would say, probably around a 50-mile radius. But we have seen deliveries that have, for a lack of a better term, that have gone from Greenville, South Carolina to Texas and from Georgia to Florida. So we have seen that as well in several locations.
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President, Operations
I would tell you, Bret, just to follow-up on that. Being a franchisee, we have a store in Atlanta, we can't market Toyotas in Chicago or New York. However, we spend a lot of money optimizing our sites. And if people find us in other states and they choose to buy a car from us and ship it up, we certainly do that, but we very much adhere to our relationship and our policies with the manufacturer.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
What do you think -- I guess, do you have an average distance that your buyers coming in from for the Clicklane?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. I would say, in the quarter and I know others have quoted some long distances, we're under 75 miles is 80% of our business. And we actually think that's a great thing because we don't want to just sell the car. Carvana's model is great selling the car, making some money in the front and back of the parts and service business is really where it's at. So in a perfect world to us is doing that transaction online locally and having them do the maintenance with us.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Okay. And then, one final question. I guess, on the used inventory, could you give us the percentage, I guess, that you're sourcing in-house versus auction?
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President, Operations
Yeah. Absolutely, Bret. So, less than 10% of the cars that we acquired in Q2 were acquired at the auction. The rest of it -- like I said, the vast majority of it comes from trades, lease turn-ins, loaner cars and also acquisitions at the store level through consumers.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
And I would tell you. That's a credit to the other general managers in our stores and the used car managers. Pre-COVID, we've been very disciplined in not buying more than 10% of our cars from auction. You get in that bidding process, you walk away with cars no one paid more than you. Margin nowadays is about the acquisition price. So, they are tremendously talented at sourcing local vehicles direct from consumers and trade-ins and the service drives and loaner cars and other things, which is getting us to healthy margins that we're seeing.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from Ryan Sigdahl with Craig-Hallum.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum -- Analyst
Good morning, guys. And congrats on the strong results.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President, Operations
Thank you.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum -- Analyst
Just one follow-up question from us. So, Asbury looking back two decades ago when the IPO, do you have a similar number of stores, a few more today, but you spent -- you've done a decent amount of rationalization, divesting, adding kind of offsetting each other. I guess, one, how do you feel about your current store base today? Is there more rationalization that's needed? And then, two, given the importance of scale and really nationwide footprint and you mentioned kind of the close proximity even on Clicklane for those customers, I guess, why not accelerate that M&A cadence to really build scale faster? Thanks.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
It's a great question. We're one of the smaller companies. And there's always so much capital to deploy and so much leverage that we're willing to take on. The other thing that I would say and just doing this for 35 years mostly as an operator running and integrating stores that people above me purchase, it's a lot easier to buy things than it is to run it. We think that with the healthiest that we've ever been from a brand mix, we really like the platforms that we have, the states that we do business in and the leadership that we have in the field because that's where the results are happening, they're not happening here.
We're disciplined. We're going to be thoughtful. We do have $400 million under LOI. We are looking at more, but we're also not getting enticed by just the revenue number. We're really saying that this is going to be a good part for us going forward and this is something that we can integrate well into our system and continue the synergies that we have.
We have the highest operating margins and lowest SG&A in the space and we're proud of that and we're not the biggest. And we think we can keep those two credits as we continue to grow the company thoughtfully. As far as expanding in every market, everywhere, I don't know that that's our goal, it truly isn't. Our goal is to kind of -- for lack of a better term -- skate to where the puck is going. Not every market is maybe ideal or perfect for us. We want to grow thoughtfully in the markets we want to be in and be dense and have meaningful relationships with our consumers through our service retention and market share within the markets we do business in. You'll see us expand in new states for sure, but the goal isn't to be in every state.
Still there, Ryan?
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum -- Analyst
That's it from me. Thanks, guys. Just had the one. Good luck.
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President, Operations
Thank you.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. We will take our last question from David Whiston with Morningstar Equity Research.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
Thanks. Good morning. I guess, first on, you're talking about how great DocuSign is and I certainly agree with you. But as of today, are there still states that require a wet signature?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Well, absolutely, especially on the DMV side. There's actually only a couple of states that are digital on the DMV and there's many more in process right now. But the bulk of your documents are more to do with lending and the vehicle and trade in vehicle itself. So there are some documents to your point that we have to redo. The way we've designed Clicklane, regardless of what the state requirements are, every single possible form is in Clicklane and every single form is signed through DocuSign.
There's two main reasons for that even though we're redoing them. One, we want the customers visualization to go through the entire process and see how the documents, no surprises on delivery for lack of a better term. And then, their awareness of the transaction, the numbers that take place. So when we go to -- again, 65% of the time when we're delivering the vehicle at the home, it's a very smooth transition to the few signatures that we may need, in some cases one or two, in other cases maybe six. It just really depends upon the state. But to us, it's the experience. People create the experience, software creates the convenience and that's where we're focused.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
Okay. So, any document that doesn't require wet signature you just had, when you actually see the customer regardless of where the customer is, that's when they actually physically sign that piece of paper, correct?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. So, if there's -- again, if Georgia requires a wet signature on a DMV form, they're signing that form on DocuSign, so they can visually see it. But then when we show up, they're going to sign that DMV form again with a wet signature.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
Okay. Yeah. That makes sense. On the 65% home delivery, was that just Clicklane or the entire company?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
That was just Clicklane.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
Okay.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
It was single-digits for its regular store.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
Okay. And the Biden administration is talking about possibly raising the federal tax rate. I know you're in between CFOs, but can you comment at all federal statutory increase would be a one-for-one increase in your own tax rate?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Really haven't looked at that yet to be honest, David. So I couldn't comment on it.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
Okay. And I guess, just one more question on the domestic GPU over $4,000 a unit. Obviously it's probably inflated a bit due to the inventory situation, but was there just a total massive decline in discounting this quarter or is mix playing a role there too?
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President, Operations
It's a -- the margins that we're seeing, it's all related to the -- well, a lot of it is related to the lack of inventory. It's a supply and demand equation. And the level of discounting that you're seeing right now is very, very, very minor, if any at all, just because again, just a simple supply and demand equation.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
But I'd also tell you, it's a little deceiving because those numbers could actually be higher. Our lack of truck inventory on the domestic side is significant. And that's really harboring or governing our sales, if you will, on that side. But if you go post -- pre-COVID, excuse me, we've always had healthy -- generally healthy PVRs on our domestic vehicles.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
And speaking of trucks, are you getting any feedback from customers on early interest in the F-150 lightning?
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President, Operations
Yeah. I mean, there has been a lot of positive reaction, as you would imagine. There is also not only excitement from the consumers, but also within the stores that represent that truck.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
We're excited about the EVs that are coming. We've had the opportunity to drive and see a lot of them and some really impressive vehicles coming down the road, so exciting times.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
Yeah, I agree. Thank you.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you very much.
Operator
[Operator Closing Remarks]
Duration: 54 minutes
Call participants:
Karen Reid -- Vice President of Corporate Planning and Analysis & Treasurer
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President, Operations
Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst
John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst
Stephanie Moore -- Truist -- Analyst
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum -- Analyst
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG) Q2 2021 Earnings Call Jul 27, 2021, 10:00 a.m. Operator [Operator Closing Remarks] Duration: 54 minutes Call participants: Karen Reid -- Vice President of Corporate Planning and Analysis & Treasurer David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President, Operations Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst Stephanie Moore -- Truist -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Clicklane guest benefit from an intuitive platform that retrieves a competitive quote from major carriers and provides a custom-built policy tailored toward the consumers' wants and needs. | Operator [Operator Closing Remarks] Duration: 54 minutes Call participants: Karen Reid -- Vice President of Corporate Planning and Analysis & Treasurer David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President, Operations Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst Stephanie Moore -- Truist -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG) Q2 2021 Earnings Call Jul 27, 2021, 10:00 a.m. ET Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks: Operator Good day and welcome to the Asbury Automotive Group Q2 2021 Earnings Conference Call. | Operator [Operator Closing Remarks] Duration: 54 minutes Call participants: Karen Reid -- Vice President of Corporate Planning and Analysis & Treasurer David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President, Operations Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst Stephanie Moore -- Truist -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG) Q2 2021 Earnings Call Jul 27, 2021, 10:00 a.m. Overall, compared to the second quarter of last year, our actions to manage gross profit and control expenses resulted in a second quarter adjusted operating margin of 8.4%, an increase of 280 basis points above the same period last year and an all-time record. | Operator [Operator Closing Remarks] Duration: 54 minutes Call participants: Karen Reid -- Vice President of Corporate Planning and Analysis & Treasurer David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President, Operations Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst Stephanie Moore -- Truist -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG) Q2 2021 Earnings Call Jul 27, 2021, 10:00 a.m. Overall, compared to the second quarter of last year, our actions to manage gross profit and control expenses resulted in a second quarter adjusted operating margin of 8.4%, an increase of 280 basis points above the same period last year and an all-time record. |
28730.0 | 2021-07-15 00:00:00 UTC | Is Now An Opportune Moment To Examine Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG)? | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/is-now-an-opportune-moment-to-examine-asbury-automotive-group-inc.-nyse%3Aabg-2021-07-15 | nan | nan | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG), is not the largest company out there, but it saw a decent share price growth in the teens level on the NYSE over the last few months. As a mid-cap stock with high coverage by analysts, you could assume any recent changes in the company’s outlook is already priced into the stock. But what if there is still an opportunity to buy? Let’s examine Asbury Automotive Group’s valuation and outlook in more detail to determine if there’s still a bargain opportunity.
Is Asbury Automotive Group still cheap?
The stock seems fairly valued at the moment according to my valuation model. It’s trading around 14% below my intrinsic value, which means if you buy Asbury Automotive Group today, you’d be paying a fair price for it. And if you believe the company’s true value is $219.19, then there’s not much of an upside to gain from mispricing. So, is there another chance to buy low in the future? Given that Asbury Automotive Group’s share is fairly volatile (i.e. its price movements are magnified relative to the rest of the market) this could mean the price can sink lower, giving us an opportunity to buy later on. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for share price volatility.
What kind of growth will Asbury Automotive Group generate?
NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue Growth July 15th 2021
Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Although value investors would argue that it’s the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. Asbury Automotive Group's earnings growth are expected to be in the teens in the upcoming years, indicating a solid future ahead. This should lead to robust cash flows, feeding into a higher share value.
What this means for you:
Are you a shareholder? It seems like the market has already priced in ABG’s positive outlook, with shares trading around its fair value. However, there are also other important factors which we haven’t considered today, such as the track record of its management team. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at the stock? Will you have enough confidence to invest in the company should the price drop below its fair value?
Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping tabs on ABG, now may not be the most optimal time to buy, given it is trading around its fair value. However, the positive outlook is encouraging for the company, which means it’s worth further examining other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.
In light of this, if you'd like to do more analysis on the company, it's vital to be informed of the risks involved. At Simply Wall St, we found 1 warning sign for Asbury Automotive Group and we think they deserve your attention.
If you are no longer interested in Asbury Automotive Group, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG), is not the largest company out there, but it saw a decent share price growth in the teens level on the NYSE over the last few months. NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue Growth July 15th 2021 Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. It seems like the market has already priced in ABG’s positive outlook, with shares trading around its fair value. | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG), is not the largest company out there, but it saw a decent share price growth in the teens level on the NYSE over the last few months. NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue Growth July 15th 2021 Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. It seems like the market has already priced in ABG’s positive outlook, with shares trading around its fair value. | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG), is not the largest company out there, but it saw a decent share price growth in the teens level on the NYSE over the last few months. NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue Growth July 15th 2021 Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. It seems like the market has already priced in ABG’s positive outlook, with shares trading around its fair value. | It seems like the market has already priced in ABG’s positive outlook, with shares trading around its fair value. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG), is not the largest company out there, but it saw a decent share price growth in the teens level on the NYSE over the last few months. NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue Growth July 15th 2021 Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. |
28731.0 | 2021-06-25 00:00:00 UTC | Is Asbury Automotive Group's (NYSE:ABG) 206% Share Price Increase Well Justified? | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/is-asbury-automotive-groups-nyse%3Aabg-206-share-price-increase-well-justified-2021-06-25 | nan | nan | While Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) shareholders are probably generally happy, the stock hasn't had particularly good run recently, with the share price falling 19% in the last quarter. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last five years have been very strong. It's fair to say most would be happy with 206% the gain in that time. Generally speaking the long term returns will give you a better idea of business quality than short periods can. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean it's cheap now.
In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.
During five years of share price growth, Asbury Automotive Group achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 21% per year. This EPS growth is reasonably close to the 25% average annual increase in the share price. That suggests that the market sentiment around the company hasn't changed much over that time. Rather, the share price has approximately tracked EPS growth.
The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).
NYSE:ABG Earnings Per Share Growth June 25th 2021
We know that Asbury Automotive Group has improved its bottom line over the last three years, but what does the future have in store? You can see how its balance sheet has strengthened (or weakened) over time in this free interactive graphic.
A Different Perspective
It's nice to see that Asbury Automotive Group shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 117% over the last year. That gain is better than the annual TSR over five years, which is 25%. Therefore it seems like sentiment around the company has been positive lately. In the best case scenario, this may hint at some real business momentum, implying that now could be a great time to delve deeper. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Asbury Automotive Group better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Asbury Automotive Group .
If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | While Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) shareholders are probably generally happy, the stock hasn't had particularly good run recently, with the share price falling 19% in the last quarter. NYSE:ABG Earnings Per Share Growth June 25th 2021 We know that Asbury Automotive Group has improved its bottom line over the last three years, but what does the future have in store? Generally speaking the long term returns will give you a better idea of business quality than short periods can. | While Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) shareholders are probably generally happy, the stock hasn't had particularly good run recently, with the share price falling 19% in the last quarter. NYSE:ABG Earnings Per Share Growth June 25th 2021 We know that Asbury Automotive Group has improved its bottom line over the last three years, but what does the future have in store? During five years of share price growth, Asbury Automotive Group achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 21% per year. | While Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) shareholders are probably generally happy, the stock hasn't had particularly good run recently, with the share price falling 19% in the last quarter. NYSE:ABG Earnings Per Share Growth June 25th 2021 We know that Asbury Automotive Group has improved its bottom line over the last three years, but what does the future have in store? One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price. | While Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) shareholders are probably generally happy, the stock hasn't had particularly good run recently, with the share price falling 19% in the last quarter. NYSE:ABG Earnings Per Share Growth June 25th 2021 We know that Asbury Automotive Group has improved its bottom line over the last three years, but what does the future have in store? During five years of share price growth, Asbury Automotive Group achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 21% per year. |
28732.0 | 2021-06-05 00:00:00 UTC | Here's Why Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) Can Manage Its Debt Responsibly | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/heres-why-asbury-automotive-group-nyse%3Aabg-can-manage-its-debt-responsibly-2021-06-05 | nan | nan | David Iben put it well when he said, 'Volatility is not a risk we care about. What we care about is avoiding the permanent loss of capital.' So it seems the smart money knows that debt - which is usually involved in bankruptcies - is a very important factor, when you assess how risky a company is. Importantly, Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) does carry debt. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?
When Is Debt A Problem?
Debt is a tool to help businesses grow, but if a business is incapable of paying off its lenders, then it exists at their mercy. Ultimately, if the company can't fulfill its legal obligations to repay debt, shareholders could walk away with nothing. However, a more usual (but still expensive) situation is where a company must dilute shareholders at a cheap share price simply to get debt under control. Having said that, the most common situation is where a company manages its debt reasonably well - and to its own advantage. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.
What Is Asbury Automotive Group's Net Debt?
You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that Asbury Automotive Group had US$1.84b of debt in March 2021, down from US$2.09b, one year before. And it doesn't have much cash, so its net debt is about the same.
NYSE:ABG Debt to Equity History June 5th 2021
How Strong Is Asbury Automotive Group's Balance Sheet?
According to the last reported balance sheet, Asbury Automotive Group had liabilities of US$1.05b due within 12 months, and liabilities of US$1.54b due beyond 12 months. Offsetting this, it had US$27.8m in cash and US$136.8m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by US$2.42b.
This is a mountain of leverage relative to its market capitalization of US$3.56b. Should its lenders demand that it shore up the balance sheet, shareholders would likely face severe dilution.
In order to size up a company's debt relative to its earnings, we calculate its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) divided by its interest expense (its interest cover). The advantage of this approach is that we take into account both the absolute quantum of debt (with net debt to EBITDA) and the actual interest expenses associated with that debt (with its interest cover ratio).
Asbury Automotive Group has net debt to EBITDA of 3.6 suggesting it uses a fair bit of leverage to boost returns. But the high interest coverage of 7.0 suggests it can easily service that debt. It is well worth noting that Asbury Automotive Group's EBIT shot up like bamboo after rain, gaining 47% in the last twelve months. That'll make it easier to manage its debt. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Asbury Automotive Group's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. So if you want to see what the professionals think, you might find this free report on analyst profit forecasts to be interesting.
Finally, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. So we always check how much of that EBIT is translated into free cash flow. During the last three years, Asbury Automotive Group generated free cash flow amounting to a very robust 93% of its EBIT, more than we'd expect. That positions it well to pay down debt if desirable to do so.
Our View
The good news is that Asbury Automotive Group's demonstrated ability to convert EBIT to free cash flow delights us like a fluffy puppy does a toddler. But, on a more sombre note, we are a little concerned by its net debt to EBITDA. Looking at all the aforementioned factors together, it strikes us that Asbury Automotive Group can handle its debt fairly comfortably. Of course, while this leverage can enhance returns on equity, it does bring more risk, so it's worth keeping an eye on this one. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But ultimately, every company can contain risks that exist outside of the balance sheet. For example - Asbury Automotive Group has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.
When all is said and done, sometimes its easier to focus on companies that don't even need debt. Readers can access a list of growth stocks with zero net debt 100% free, right now.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | NYSE:ABG Debt to Equity History June 5th 2021 How Strong Is Asbury Automotive Group's Balance Sheet? Importantly, Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) does carry debt. However, a more usual (but still expensive) situation is where a company must dilute shareholders at a cheap share price simply to get debt under control. | Importantly, Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) does carry debt. NYSE:ABG Debt to Equity History June 5th 2021 How Strong Is Asbury Automotive Group's Balance Sheet? According to the last reported balance sheet, Asbury Automotive Group had liabilities of US$1.05b due within 12 months, and liabilities of US$1.54b due beyond 12 months. | Importantly, Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) does carry debt. NYSE:ABG Debt to Equity History June 5th 2021 How Strong Is Asbury Automotive Group's Balance Sheet? The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together. | Importantly, Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) does carry debt. NYSE:ABG Debt to Equity History June 5th 2021 How Strong Is Asbury Automotive Group's Balance Sheet? What Is Asbury Automotive Group's Net Debt? |
28733.0 | 2021-06-04 00:00:00 UTC | Validea Peter Lynch Strategy Daily Upgrade Report - 6/4/2021 | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/validea-peter-lynch-strategy-daily-upgrade-report-6-4-2021-2021-06-04 | nan | nan | The following are today's upgrades for Validea's P/E/Growth Investor model based on the published strategy of Peter Lynch. This strategy looks for stocks trading at a reasonable price relative to earnings growth that also possess strong balance sheets.
ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Peter Lynch changed from 72% to 74% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. is an automotive retailer in the United States. The Company owns and operates approximately 90 dealerships, consisting of 113 franchises. It also operates approximately 25 collision repair centers. Its stores offer a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. Its new vehicle revenues include new vehicle sales and lease transactions arranged by dealerships with third-party financial institutions.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
P/E/GROWTH RATIO: PASS
SALES AND P/E RATIO: PASS
EPS GROWTH RATE: PASS
TOTAL DEBT/EQUITY RATIO: FAIL
FREE CASH FLOW: NEUTRAL
NET CASH POSITION: NEUTRAL
Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC.
Full Guru Analysis for ABG
Full Factor Report for ABG
SPARTANNASH CO (SPTN) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Grocery) industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Peter Lynch changed from 0% to 91% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: SpartanNash Company is a multi-regional grocery distributor and grocery retailer. The Company's core businesses include distributing grocery products to independent grocery retailers (independent retailers), select national retailers, its corporate owned retail stores, and the United States military commissaries. The Company operates through three segments: Food Distribution, Military and Retail. The Food Distribution segment provides a range of nationally branded and private brand grocery products and perishable food products to independent retailers, food service distributors and its corporate owned retail stores. The Military segment contracts with manufacturers to distribute a range of grocery products primarily to military commissaries and exchanges located in the United States, the District of Columbia, Europe, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Bahrain and Egypt. As of December 31, 2016, the Retail segment operated 157 corporate owned retail stores in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
SALES: PASS
YIELD COMPARED TO THE S&P 500: PASS
YIELD ADJUSTED P/E/GROWTH (PEG) RATIO: PASS
TOTAL DEBT/EQUITY RATIO: PASS
FREE CASH FLOW: NEUTRAL
NET CASH POSITION: NEUTRAL
Detailed Analysis of SPARTANNASH CO
Full Guru Analysis for SPTN
Full Factor Report for SPTN
More details on Validea's Peter Lynch strategy
Peter Lynch Stock Ideas
About Peter Lynch: Perhaps the greatest mutual fund manager of all-time, Lynch guided Fidelity Investment's Magellan Fund to a 29.2 percent average annual return from 1977 until his retirement in 1990, almost doubling the S&P 500's 15.8 percent yearly return over that time. Lynch's common sense approach and quick wit made him one of the most quoted investors on Wall Street. ("Go for a business that any idiot can run -- because sooner or later, any idiot probably is going to run it," is one of his many pearls of wisdom.) Lynch's bestseller One Up on Wall Street is something of a "stocks for the everyman/everywoman", breaking his approach down into easy-to-understand concepts.
About Validea: Validea is aninvestment researchservice that follows the published strategies of investment legends. Validea offers both stock analysis and model portfolios based on gurus who have outperformed the market over the long-term, including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Martin Zweig. For more information about Validea, click here
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. Full Guru Analysis for ABG Full Factor Report for ABG SPARTANNASH CO (SPTN) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Grocery) industry. This strategy looks for stocks trading at a reasonable price relative to earnings growth that also possess strong balance sheets. | ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. Full Guru Analysis for ABG Full Factor Report for ABG SPARTANNASH CO (SPTN) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Grocery) industry. Its stores offer a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. | ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. Full Guru Analysis for ABG Full Factor Report for ABG SPARTANNASH CO (SPTN) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Grocery) industry. Its stores offer a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. | ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. Full Guru Analysis for ABG Full Factor Report for ABG SPARTANNASH CO (SPTN) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Grocery) industry. The following are today's upgrades for Validea's P/E/Growth Investor model based on the published strategy of Peter Lynch. |
28734.0 | 2021-05-04 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive Group Reaches Analyst Target Price | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-group-reaches-analyst-target-price-2021-05-04 | nan | nan | In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $201.12, changing hands for $202.22/share. When a stock reaches the target an analyst has set, the analyst logically has two ways to react: downgrade on valuation, or, re-adjust their target price to a higher level. Analyst reaction may also depend on the fundamental business developments that may be responsible for driving the stock price higher — if things are looking up for the company, perhaps it is time for that target price to be raised.
There are 8 different analyst targets contributing to that average for Asbury Automotive Group Inc, but the average is just that — a mathematical average. There are analysts with lower targets than the average, including one looking for a price of $168.00. And then on the other side of the spectrum one analyst has a target as high as $255.00. The standard deviation is $30.13.
But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $201.12/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $201.12 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? Below is a table showing the current thinking of the analysts that cover Asbury Automotive Group Inc:
RECENT ABG ANALYST RATINGS BREAKDOWN
» Current 1 Month Ago 2 Month Ago 3 Month Ago
Strong buy ratings: 4 4 4 4
Buy ratings: 1 1 1 1
Hold ratings: 3 3 3 3
Sell ratings: 0 0 0 0
Strong sell ratings: 0 0 0 0
Average rating: 1.81 1.81 1.81 1.81
The average rating presented in the last row of the above table above is from 1 to 5 where 1 is Strong Buy and 5 is Strong Sell. This article used data provided by Zacks Investment Research via Quandl.com. Get the latest Zacks research report on ABG — FREE.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $201.12, changing hands for $202.22/share. And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $201.12/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $201.12 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. | In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $201.12, changing hands for $202.22/share. But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $201.12/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $201.12 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? | And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $201.12/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $201.12 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $201.12, changing hands for $202.22/share. But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. | In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $201.12, changing hands for $202.22/share. But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $201.12/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $201.12 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? |
28735.0 | 2021-04-27 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive Group Inc (ABG) Q1 2021 Earnings Call Transcript | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-group-inc-abg-q1-2021-earnings-call-transcript-2021-04-27 | nan | nan | Image source: The Motley Fool.
Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG)
Q1 2021 Earnings Call
Apr 27, 2021, 10:00 a.m. ET
Contents:
Prepared Remarks
Questions and Answers
Call Participants
Prepared Remarks:
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Asbury Automotive Group First Quarter 2021 Earnings Call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Ms. Karen Reid. Please go ahead.
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Karen Reid -- Head of Investor Relations and Treasurer
Thanks, David, and good morning everyone. As David mentioned, today's call is being recorded and will be available for replay later this afternoon. Welcome to Asbury Automotive First Quarter 2021 Earnings Call. I'm Karen Reid, Asbury's new Treasurer, and Head of Investor Relations. I look forward to engaging with our analysts and our investor community. The press release detailing Asbury's first quarter results was issued earlier this morning and is posted on our website at asburyauto.com. Participating with me today are David Hult, our President and Chief Executive Officer; PJ Guido, our Chief Financial Officer; and Dan Clara, our Senior Vice President of Operations. At the conclusion of our remarks, we will open up the call for questions, and I will be available later for any follow-up questions that you may have.
Before we begin, we must remind you that the discussion during the call today is likely to contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements other than those which are historical in nature, including those statements relating to the duration and contemplated impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and financial performance, the impact of the chip shortage, as well as the financial projections and expectations about our products, markets and growth.
All forward-looking statements are subject to significant uncertainties and actual results may differ materially from those suggested by these statements, including potential impacts from the COVID 19 pandemic and the semiconductor chip shortage on us, our industry and our customers, suppliers, vendors and business partners. For information regarding certain of the risks that may cause actual results to differ, please see our filings with the SEC from time to time, including our Form 10-K for the year ended December 2020, any subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and our earnings release issued earlier today. We expressly disclaim any responsibility to update forward-looking statements. In addition, certain non-GAAP financial measures as defined under SEC rules, may be discussed on this call. As required by applicable SEC rules, we provide reconciliations of any such non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures on our website. We have also posted an updated investor presentation on our website asbury.com highlighting our first quarter results. It is now my pleasure to hand the call over to our CEO, David Hult. David?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, Karen. We are excited to have you on our team. Welcome to our first quarterearnings call We have just reported record adjusted EPS of $4.68, up 160% over the prior year. SAAR continues to recover from prior year lows despite supply chain disruptions due to the chip shortage and COVID. The strong demand in the face of lower days supply helped us deliver a strong gross margin of 17.5%, an expansion of 60 basis points versus the first quarter of last year. We've also stayed disciplined in managing expenses, resulting in SG&A as a percentage of gross profit of 62.7%, an 880 basis point improvement versus prior year. Of note, this result includes an estimated $0.22 negative EPS impact from the winter storm experience in February that caused us to close stores in several markets along with some structural damage.
Our total revenue for the quarter was up 36% year-over-year, and total gross profit was up 40%. Showing strong signs of recovery, new unit sales were up 24%, and used unit sales were up 16% with margin expansion in both segments. Total F&I revenue was up 25%, while revenue from parts and service was up 18% from last year. We saw signs of growth in parts and service over this past quarter as drivers are returning to the road. Our balance sheet remains strong due to our performance in cash flow. Our pro forma adjusted net leverage ended this quarter at 1.7 times. This leverage level will allow us to maintain a more active acquisition pipeline and grow our business by strategically deploying capital.
A couple of additional comments regarding performance. We achieved an adjusted operating margin of 6.1%, up 180 basis points over last year, and we successfully launched Clicklane, which Dan will discuss further. Regarding acquisitions, it is a very active market and we are engaged in many conversations, but remain disciplined in our approach. We are confident we will find deals that make sense for Asbury. Looking forward, we are focused on our five year plan, while we continue our disciplined approach to operating our business and allocating capital to its highest returns.
Finally, I would like to thank all the hard working men and women who showed up every day throughout the past year with a positive attitude and a commitment to serving our guests. Once again, you delivered great results for our company. I will now hand the call over to Dan to discuss our operating performance. Dan?
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Thank you, David, and good morning everyone. My remarks will pertain to our same store performance compared to the first quarter of 2020. Looking at new vehicles. Based on current market conditions, we are focused on being opportunistic with our inventory and improving gross [Phonetic] to maximize profit. Our new average gross profit per vehicle was up $640 per car or 39% from the prior year period. All segment margins were up significantly from the prior year period. Factoring in the acquisition of Park Place, luxury represented 45% of our total revenue, up from 34% in the first quarter of 2020, driving our all-store new vehicle PVRs up $1,114 or 67%. At the end of March, our total new vehicle inventory was $527 million and our days supply was at an all-time low of 34 days, down 71 days from the prior year. Some of our brands were below 20 day supply during the quarter and experienced major challenges due to the lack of inventory. With no clear understanding of when production will return to normal levels, we expect that the days supply to remain low throughout the remainder of the year.
Turning to used vehicles. Our gross margin was 8.1%, up 100 basis point from the prior period, representing an average gross profit per vehicle of $1,943. As a result of our performance, our gross profit was up 36%. Our used vehicle inventory ended March at $193 million, which represents a 27-day supply, down 15 days from the prior year. We remain focused on sourcing inventory that will generate a fair return.
Turning to F&I. Our strong consistent and sustainable growth in F&I delivered an increase of $114 to $1,798 per vehicle retail from the prior year quarter. In the first quarter, our front-end yield per vehicle increased $637 per vehicle to a first quarter record of $3,932.
Turning to parts and service. Our parts and service revenue increased 1% in the quarter with business exceeding pre-COVID numbers in March. We continue to see this trend thus far in April. And now, I would like to provide an update on our omnichannel initiatives.
In December, we launched Clicklane, which is a latest evolution in our omnichannel strategy that we began more than five years ago. We are excited to announce that we have completed the rollout of Clicklane to all stores in this quarter. As a reminder, Clicklane is a complete transactional tool, which allows for a true online car buying and selling experience. It fills many of the gaps that exist with online automotive retail platforms currently on the market, which basically are lead generators and unable to fully complete an online transaction. Features that are unique to Clicklane include penny perfect trading values and loan payoffs, real payment figures based on local taxes and fees, a loan marketplace, which now includes more than 30 lenders, VIN-specific finance and insurance products customized to the vehicle and consumer, the ability to sign all documents online via DocuSign, the in-tool service and collision appointment scheduler, and we just added parts and accessories. Although Clicklane just fully launched in all stores, we have some promising initial metrics to share.
Average down payment is more than double our in-store average F&I PVR is 17% higher when compared to our stores. Nearly 50% of customers chose to take delivery at home. Credit scores on average are higher than our stores. On average, nine out of ten customers that apply for a loan are approved through Clicklane. 50% of transactions had a pay-off with their trade. Trades taken through Clicklane that were retailed are averaging higher for end-to-end PVRs when compared to our stores. Trades through Clicklane are turning in less than 15 days. We are certainly excited about these early indicators.
And finally, I would like to take this opportunity to express appreciation to all of our teammates in the field for their continued focus on the guest experience, their commitment to continuous improvement, and the perseverance. I will now hand the call over to PJ to discuss our financial performance. PJ?
Patrick J. Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Thank you, Dan, and good morning everyone. I'd like to provide some financial highlights which mark yet another record quarter for our company. For additional details on our financial performance for the quarter, I would refer you to our financial supplement in our press release dated today, April 27th, 2021.
Overall, compared to the first quarter of last year, total revenue was 36% higher than last year. Gross margin expanded by 60 basis points to 17.5%, driven by our focus on maximizing gross profit in a market where demand continues to outweigh supply. Moving down the P&L, we saw SG&A as a percent of gross profit decreased by 880 basis points to 62.7%. We estimate that SG&A would have been approximately 100 basis points lower, absent the impact on gross profit and expenses of the winter storm that resulted in store closures in several markets and also caused damage to a few of our Texas stores. Our actions to manage gross profit and control expenses resulted in a record first quarter adjusted operating margin of 6.1%, an increase of 180 basis points above the same period last year. Adjusted net income increased 161% to $90.7 million, and adjusted EPS increased by 160% versus the prior year period, maintaining our momentum coming out of 2020.
Net income for the first quarter 2021 was adjusted for the following pre-tax items. Gain on legal settlements of $3.5 million or $0.14 per diluted share. Gain on real estate sales of $1.1 million or $0.03 per diluted share. And real estate related charges of $1.8 million or $0.07 per diluted share. Net income for the first quarter of 2020 was adjusted up -- up for pre-tax items totaling $20.4 million or $0.79 per diluted share. For specific details on 2020 adjustments, please reference this morning's press release.
Our effective tax rate was 22.3% for the first quarter 2021 compared to 19.1% in 2020. Floor plan interest expense for the quarter decreased by $4.1 million over the prior year quarter, driven primarily by lower inventory levels and lower LIBOR rates. With respect to capital deployed this quarter, we spent approximately $17 million on store improvements in real estate and we repaid approximately $14 million of debt. As a result of our operational performance, our balance sheet remains in a very strong position, and we ended the quarter with approximately $550 million of liquidity comprised of cash floor plan offset accounts and availability on both our used line and revolving credit facility. Also at the end of the quarter, our pro forma adjusted net leverage ratio stood at 1.7 times, well below our targeted leverage range of 3.0 times.
As we look forward to the remainder of 2021, we anticipate similar conditions to what we have seen the last few quarters. Inventories are likely to remain low and there will be continued opportunity to drive gross margin. Overall, as we did in Q1, we are still planning to a $16 million SAAR environment, but we'll keep our business nimble and flexible with an emphasis on gross margin and SG&A expense management. One shift worth noting is that as the economy opens up more, we expect to see higher growth and a bigger contribution from our parts and service business.
With regard to our five year plan, we are only one quarter into it but are off to a great start. Our Clicklane platform is up and running across all our stores. Our same-store sales revenue in Q1 was a strong 18% and we are building an active acquisition pipeline to pursue those deals that make the most sense for Asbury. As we progress, we will provide regular updates on the five year plan and how we are delivering.
In closing, I would also like to thank our teams across the business who continue to work tirelessly during this unprecedented time to ensure our current and long-term success. This concludes our prepared remarks. We will now turn the call over to the operator and take your questions. Operator?
Questions and Answers:
Operator
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Rick Nelson with Stephens.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc -- Analyst
Thanks a lot. Good morning. So it sounds like you're expecting inventory to remain tight here. Do you think you can maintain these GPUs and the SG&A expense ratio in an environment like this? And because their potential [inaudible] here at 34 days of supply now, where you see that going to potentially become even more problematic.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
You know, Eric, as we all know -- this is David. It's a fluid situation. It's a fantastic question. As we sit here today, we received far less cars in the month of April than we anticipated. But looking forward at May, we're anticipating more inventory to come in than we received in April. So, based upon what we have on the ground now and what we perceive we're going to receive in May, which could certainly get pushed, we think we're in fine shape to deliver what we need to from a unit perspective, but also keep the margins as well. It's really tough to look beyond a month at a time not knowing what's going to happen with the chip shortage and inventory and what's going to come. I mean it's really, really too hard to see how much beyond that, but we have strong confidence as we're positioned in April and what we anticipate receiving in May.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc -- Analyst
Thanks for that color, David. Are there brands that are more impacted by the semiconductor shortage than others, or how those have looked across the spectrum?
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Good morning, Rick. This is Dan. Yes, listen, every every brand is definitely impacted, but I would say Domestics are more impacted than some of the other ones that we're seeing out there.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc -- Analyst
Got you. Thanks. I'm curious on the used side of the house, what proportion of vehicles are you sourcing internally and what proportion are you going to auction and what do you see going on in the auction market nowadays.
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Yeah, Rick, another great question. So we source in -- over 50% of our cars come in from the trading perspective, auction prices as you can imagine are at an all time high and the availability is -- continues to be scarce at the auction.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc -- Analyst
In parts and service, it was quite a differential customer pay same-store up 3%, warranty down 13%. Curious what's driving that differential and PL outlook I just for those two drivers to service and parts
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Rick, this is David. The warranty, it did have [Phonetic] some blows with the brand and what's going on with recalls and everything. So across the board, Import domestic luxury which is down everywhere in warranty, don't read much into that. I mean that kind of pops up and down and will continue to do that throughout the year. We're really excited about customer pay when you think about it. We probably had close to 40% of our stores at one point or another closed down in February. So we were dramatically impacted in February, not only with sales but in parts and service. March came back so strong, it was actually ahead of '19 pace numbers. And as we sit here in April, we're experiencing the same. So, the customers are back on the road, the service business is back. We always had a laddering [Phonetic] collision coming back, and now collision is back as well. So while we're feeling it on the variable side with some shortages with inventory, thankfully Parts and Service is picking up on that. And just to go back and touch on what Dan said about the used cars and acquisitions with 50% coming from trades. Our other resources is buying directly from consumers off lease vehicles from the manufacturers, certainly within our service drive and loaner car fleet. So we got a -- certainly a tight day supply but we think it's one that the inventory turns quickly and we're creating great margins with it.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc -- Analyst
Great. And I would like to sneak one more in here about April. You talked about the inventory challenges, how do sales look and GPUs. Are they continuing to be elevated?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah, just what you've seen in the first quarter results, we're experiencing that as we sit here today in April as well.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc -- Analyst
Great. Thanks a lot, and good luck.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from John Murphy with Bank of America.
John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Good morning, guys. I just had a first question on [indecipherable] on inventory. I mean, you, as well as rest of the industry has done a great job of turning inventory faster and it hasn't had a significant impact on sales, and short tendered it to some extent, but it's not been a major negative. What point or what inventory level you think you start running into constraints on supply being able to deliver the consumer what they want. And also on the inventory side, we all know often dogs sit around in inventory, I'm just curious if you think that you've kind of -- you and the industry have worked out a lot of these unattractive vehicles and now we're really just looking at really hot selling vehicles in inventory that are turning fast.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
It's a great question. And again it's such a fluid situation and you don't have a long runway to look over the next 90 days what's coming. So my comments that I'm going to make are based on sitting here today. Our perception is we're going to receive almost double the inventory in May that we received in April. I can tell you sitting here today, if we receive the same inventory levels in May that we received in April, we would struggle to get to the new unit sales that we need to get to. So, no insight to June at this point, but we're confident where we're sitting in April and we're confident with May assuming we receive the production that we were told we're going to receive.
As it relates to the hot selling products as you point to, the OEMs are really great at this. And while the chip shortage is there, they've really been shifting their production to the faster selling vehicles. So to your point about some of the dogs that sit out there, I'm sure there is a few strays every now and then. But it's really very light inventory and it's moving pretty quickly. The demand is very high, which is obviously, you can see everyone's benefiting from in the margins, and I can't see it slowing down anytime soon. Because it's also with people coming back is going to be a pent-up demand on the fleet side as well.
John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Yeah, it's pretty encouraging. Okay. And then just second question, Park Place obviously was a big acquisition, but you guys didn't even mention it much in the quarter. Just curious it sounds the integration is going very smoothly because there's no noise about it. So I mean that's a good sign. And given that that appears to be going so well, you've got a $5 billion target over your five year plan. Could you get more aggressive on acquisitions? I mean, some of your peers are talking about that kind of number almost on an annual basis, or doing that almost on an annual basis. I mean is there opportunity to get more aggressive and even larger than what you're targeting at the moment?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah, it's a great question, John, I'll touch on Park Place real quick. The largest acquisition Asbury's history from a dollar standpoint, but from a meaning standpoint and really setting us up for who we want to be. I mean we look at Park Place as the crown jewel in the automotive industry. The professionals that we have there, the general managers, the senior team that runs the business there is everything we thought it was and more, but it takes a lot of communication and care to make sure things go smoothly, and we're looking at the long-term relationships and run. So very, very excited what we're seeing there and it kind of shows in our total numbers compared to the same-store. So that'll continue to progress and the relationship is great and acquisition transition is going great at this point.
As it relates to acquisitions, in the time that I've been with the company, we've never had more conversations going on than what we have now. Everyone one month, their price is based off COVID numbers. I don't think that that's in the shareholders' best interest to buy every acquisition based on COVID numbers and there has to be some discipline and common sense of the numbers. So while we feel the need to want to acquire things right now, we're not going to go outside our structure because it's about the long game and doing the right thing with the shareholders' equity. So we'll stay disciplined. We know deals will come our way. We like a lot of the conversations that we're in now. There aren't any deals being announced that we haven't looked at, but we're really not just into acquiring revenue. We really want to make sure it's revenue that is meaningful for the company for five, ten years from now. And we're not just buying at a moment in time when the earnings and multiples are very high.
John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Okay. And then the last question that all kind of weave together with that, I mean quickly you gave us some metrics which were helpful. But very curious what kind of geographic reach or extension in your reach that is giving you if you can tell us sort of early days and even with that, what kind of market share gains you may be seeing in your existing markets because of the ease of transaction for the consumer.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. It's a great question. And keep in mind, every store in the company has it, but some stores were rolled out in the last week of the quarter. We're seeing the luxury customers really take advantage of the tool. We're seeing the import customers really take advantage of the tool, seeing it a little bit on the domestic side, but I think we're really hurting with inventory on the domestic side which is making it difficult, you can't purchase what you don't have. With push start, we were seeing 70%, 80% used, and 20%, 30% new. It's about a 60/4o split used to new right now. And we're certainly obviously acquiring a lot of customers with sales transactions that we never did business with before. We're shipping a lot of vehicles. But I think that is somewhat normal as well right now with low day supply and people really looking for their vehicles. I think the key metrics to really focus on, it's not a lead generation to transactional tool. Most people's tools are seeing a lot of subprime and are struggling to get the financing. Our average credit score so far in Clicklane is higher than the store average. Nine out of ten people are getting financed. Double the cash being put down on a Clicklane consumer compared to in-store. These are very strong metric that says strong creditworthy people are buying these cars online, trading vehicles with pay-offs and taking delivery of them at home. And I can't emphasize enough, it's just started. So this is only going to build incrementally over time. And we believe we're the first in this space to have a full transactional tool, not a lead generation, not a piece of the sale, a full transactional tool, which puts us in the driver's seat for really growing the tool. And like I said, we launched Dallas store at the end of the quarter, we've already launched Parts and Accessories on it now as well. So we're going to continue to innovate with this tool and we're going to get better each and every month. And we'll certainly continue every quarter to share the information what we're seeing. But it's very, very promising.
John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst
And sorry, David, if I can follow-up on that. So if we think about Clicklane and your acquisition strategy, I mean you could argue that this digital overlay means that you might not need to make as any acquisitions and you have a much farther reach so you can gain market share that way, or conversely some are arguing that you need to build a greater national network to really leverage the digital overlay. Which way do you think it is [inaudible]. How do you approach the marriage of the two?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Hey, John, it's an excellent question, and look there is more than one way to climb a mountain, but from our perspective is brick and mortar is permanent and it's expensive. And if the transaction happens online, then it's really just a supply chain delivery. I've used this example before so I used it again. As we sit here today, we currently don't have any stores in Phoenix. If we chose to put a ring around the city of Phoenix with 5.5 million population and start marketing Clicklane, no differently than Carvana we could start doing transactions within that marketplace, which would create much higher SG&A numbers than what we're currently doing without that brick and mortar. So we will continue to build out our markets, but because of the tool that we have and our ability to move vehicles around, we absolutely do not believe we have to be in every market to do business in each segment of the country.
John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Okay. That's incredibly helpful, thank you very much.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from Ryan Sigdahl with the Craig Hallum Capital Group.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Good morning, guys, thanks for taking my questions.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Good morning.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Just one quick follow-up on Clicklane. So looking at the Clicklane website, also looking at Asbury website, seems very similar between the two. Curious if you plan to run kind of side by side websites there or if you plan to consolidate those at any point in the future.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure, Ryan. As a reminder, with the franchise stores, all the OEMs require us to use certain vendors for our websites. So we certainly have to stick to those policies. Clicklane will continue to grow, and depending upon whether we have franchise stores in that market or not, it will grow in different ways. When I talked about the [inaudible launch in the parts and accessory piece, because we didn't want it to be a distraction during the purchase of the vehicle and people accessorizing the car, we actually put it in the back end of Clicklane. So after the consumer purchases the vehicle and we PDF them their DocuSign documents, they have access to the back end of the tool for service and parts and collision. That's where they have the ability to accessorize it as well. So we have a roadmap. We're not done innovating this tool. And we have a long ways to go from where we see it. But being the first with the lending marketplace and a full transactional tool and the only one out there in the market right now being able to do pay-offs, we think we are at a competitive advantage and now we just need to scale our product and get the word out there to consumers the ease it is of doing business with us.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Great. And then you mentioned the used versus new mix, it is higher on the used side on Clicklane. Do you think that's purely a function of inventory availability right now or do you think over time used will stay stronger online as far as the mix goes?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. It's an excellent question. It's hard to say. I mean, we were close to 80% with Push Start and 60-40 to us is very promising. We're selling $100,000 Land Rovers on the tool new, and we're selling pre-owned that way as well. It's kind of hard to judge when your inventories are still low whether someone would transact that way or not. We believe no differently than technology in any other space, as the consumers become more comfortable and the tool to actually get out there more often, we believe that these numbers are going to double every year as far as used, because the convenience factor and transparency is second to none, and it's what the space has been craving for for years. And seeing their F&I results, to be 17% higher per vehicle on Clicklane compared to the actual stores is extremely promising.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Last one for me, you mentioned you quantified the EPS impact from weather in Texas and closures there, is there a way you can quantify what the impact was to same-store sales?
Patrick J. Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yeah, sure. Ryan, this is PJ. We estimated the total impact to growth split evenly between sales and service at roughly $5 million of gross profit impact. The stores -- our stores in Texas, our Park Place in McDavid Dealer Groups were closed for nearly a full week. And our Plaza Group, our group in Indiana and our Crown Group were also closed for a full day. So again, we estimate the total impact of that on gross profit at $5 million.
In addition to that, we also had roughly $1 million worth of damage to two of our stores in Texas, our Lexus [indecipherable] Plano stores. So we incurred the expense associated with that. And then lastly, we did a guarantee pay for all our associates in those markets for the time that the stores were closed. So that was it approximately an additional $800,000 of compensation expense.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Great, thanks guys, good luck.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from Adam Jonas with Morgan Stanley.
Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Hey everybody. Thanks so much for your -- those KPIs around Clicklane, that's really great. I wanted to hone in on one where you said over -- I think you said over 50% preferred or chose home delivery. Is that correct? Is that you said?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes, correct.
Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Okay. Can you tell us how many units that was in the quarter?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah, Adam, we're not disclosing that at this point because again, [indecipherable] doing 90 stores that came went off the road, but I can tell you it -- as we sit here, the number is growing every week.
Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
So, when are we going to start seeing that stuff because -- and the KPIs were great, I'm looking for the slide in your deck and of course, there is no slide with all the stuff, and it's important that the KPIs are consistent. So obviously we can do the whole dog and pony thing and check the transcripts and talk with you after, but it is nice if it's on the deck. Just some feedback, when are we going to start seeing more formal unit volume that we can track so we can start tracking digital comps sequentially and then eventually year-on-year?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. I appreciate your passion in wanting to see the numbers. As I said we were launched in stores the last quarter -- or the last week of the quarter. So I don't think it's too much to say, well, let's get a full quarter under our belt and we'll be talking about it every quarter. So certainly [indecipherable] by, we'll be happy to share that information.
Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Thanks, David. Last one from me. Auto companies are starting to explore going direct to consumer with insurance. And then yeah, insurance has been -- and even legacy guys are starting to do that. GM using partners with OnStar, Tesla, going themselves with partners but then eventually themselves. I'm wondering if -- what you think of that. Do you think this is -- does that make sense of that part of where you see that digital expression of auto retailing, and if OEMs start to do more kind of cutting out the third-party kind of parasitic insurance folks -- and I'm not saying that mainly because of the cars become the actuary and the agent and just makes sense to do that. How do you see that affecting your role on the eye part of F&I. Thanks.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
So I think it's an excellent question and I don't want -- really want to talk too much about things we're working on in innovation, but I mean for 35, 40 years within dealership people refer insurance business to other locations. It's natural to assume that this would be logical down the road to have it be one-stop shopping and everything available at one location. But I really don't want to get into any details at this point, but it's an excellent point. It's only logical that it's altogether.
Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Alright. Well, that answers part of the question. Thanks, David. Appreciate it.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from Rajat Gupta with JPMorgan.
Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst
Good morning, thanks for taking the question. I just had a question on the used vehicle unit growth. You talked about the overall $5 million gross profit impact overall for the company. I mean suggest something like two to three points of unit growth impact, am I close on that? And then just relatedly obviously pretty strong numbers year-over-year and on a two year basis, but still seems to be lagging, some of the peers that have reported recently. Are you satisfied with the performance there? Do you think there is more you could do in terms of sourcing or the mix of the vehicles that you're selling to grow that business even faster, and I had a follow-up. Thanks.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. It's an excellent question. No, we're not satisfied and it's more than fair to say we're not performing at the level we should with pre-owned. It's hard to quantify, PJ talked about some of the markets that were close but we literally had 40% of our stores closed. And while they were physically closed for a week, you know the hyper storms they closed down before and closed down after. So I would think it's probably fair to say looking at all the stores the markets that were closed for some periods of time and the effect on business, it had to be somewhere in the 4% to 6% range in volume, but it's really hard to quantify, it's really just a guess at that point. But to answer your question simplistically, we're not performing at the level we need to with pre-owned. We think in every other category, we're more than holding our own, and this is an area of opportunity for us, we need to get going.
Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst
Got it. That's really helpful. And just a follow-up on the M&A -- the M&A environment. We talked about like unreasonable earnings and probably not appropriate multiple right now in the market. I mean, and there is -- it looks like these gross margin tailwinds could probably last for another year or maybe, you know, like mid 2022 or later 2022. So when do you make the decision to start deploying that capital finally, because it's already been six months since you announced the plan. You know, it will be 18 months a year from now and earnings might still look elevated. So, I mean would you continue to sit on the cash on the balance sheet or -- just trying to understand like how that capital might be deployed now and then. And then when would be the right time to finally make that decision to work toward your five year plan? Thanks. Yeah.
Patrick J. Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Hey, Rajat, it's PJ. So I'll start and then maybe hand it off to David. But it's actually been three months since we announced the plan in December. And as we've said before, we're very disciplined in our approach to acquisitions. We do -- we look -- when we evaluate an opportunity, we're looking at EBITDA multiples and then factoring in the synergies we think we can achieve, and then we look at the IRR relative to our cost of capital. And we need to see a margin there to deliver an accretive deal. So we are evaluating deals, it's on a deal by deal basis. And so we'll continue to fill the pipeline but we're only going to look at or execute on those deals that make the most sense for Asbury.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
And I'll just follow-up on that and talk about the two points. When you look at 2020, prior to 2020, a dealer was making $5 million annually. And then in COVID they started making $10 million and they want to work off to $10 million and they want a multiple that's higher than what the brand has ever run. That makes it difficult. While I agree with you the way margins and this space is going to be for the next year, and again it's one person's opinion, this isn't a forward-looking statement. But you have to think about '23 and '24, the amount of EVs that are going to be on the market, where the infrastructure is going to be for that in the country at that time, and where is supply and demand going to mix. So I don't think you can get caught up in the hype of just buying at the moment in time and you have to look out a few years to really see what the value and trend is going to be. And as what we talked about when we launched the five year plan, which is no doubt we'll hit it, that $5 billion doesn't all have to come in one year that -- it doesn't have to be $1 billion a year. We have to be disciplined. We've been doing this a long time, I've been in automotive for 35 years. There is always highs and lows. We're talking to more acquisitions today than we ever have since I've been employed here. So I think things will happen, but I think we should be judged in the long run by the acquisitions that we did and how accretive they were for the company, instead of just having nervous energy [Phonetic] buying revenue and then may be struggling with performance over time.
Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst
Got it, got it. That's really helpful. One last one, just following up on Clicklane. And I know you don't want to give out like the unit numbers, but had it not been for Clicklane, would you have grown slower than what you did in the first quarter. I'm just curious if it contributed to incremental volumes and not just replacing one for one. Thanks.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
No, it's an excellent question. And I can't stress this enough, we only had a few pilot stores on it in December, so we essentially -- and no other public group really has this full transactional tool nor that they have it in all their stores, we rolled out 86 stores in two and a half months. So the numbers are, you know what I mean, that week over week you're adding so many stores. There is a lot of incremental sales that we would not have received, and I made that comment, because looking at the information we weren't doing business with them before. But when you're adding 40 stores in the last three weeks of the quarter, it's just not a material number. I can tell you every single week the number grows and the transactions are growing on the tool. And we haven't hit our stride with marketing, where -- we really just start marketing now. We really want to protect the tool, make sure everything was rolled out properly, and it was efficiently working. And I know it sounds crazy to roll it out, it's just plug and play software. But when you think about all the different counties and different tax codes and making sure that it's perfect and everything is working correctly, there's a little bit of discipline in time to make sure it's right. You just don't want to invite people to the tool and not have it be a great experience. And what we quoted last time with the pilot stores is still holding true. It's a 14 minute transaction if there's a pay-off and there is financing needed in [indecipherable] paying cash it's 8 minutes. It's hard to beat that kind of time. And it's very encouraging for us from our perspective. And I'm not saying it won't change over time, but it's information we're sharing as it's coming, 50% of the people are taking delivery at home. That didn't happen in the heat of COVID with push start. So we're very excited about what we're seeing. We're also seeing a higher credit score with Clicklane compared to push start. So it's very, very encouraging. And I promise we'll talk about it in great detail every quarter, but it's not just the unit sales, it's the type of person that's using the tool and transacting on it that is most encouraging to us.
Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst
Got it, got it. Makes sense. Thanks for all the color, and good luck.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Absolutely. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from Stephanie Benjamin with Truist.
Stephanie Benjamin -- Truist -- Analyst
Hi, good morning.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Good morning.
Stephanie Benjamin -- Truist -- Analyst
Just we really appreciate all the additional color that you've given on Clicklane. But question -- I understand that it was a pretty, pretty large task to roll this out to all of the -- your stores this quarter. So how should we think about any kind of incremental advertising or investments as we move through the year? Is -- should there -- should we expect a step up as you kind of look to get the name out there a little bit more in some of your markets. Is that something we should just kind of expect not only in store but maybe also on a local level just so customers know what their options are.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes, Stephanie, it's a great question. Yes, we've allocated several million dollars between now and the end of the year and we spread the dollars by market depending upon unit sales and traffic counts and density of population. Now the numbers may change but what our plan is depending upon what happens with inventories, it's too hard to predict sitting here today what things are going to look like in July and August from an inventory standpoint. But our intent is to get that out there. We think we have some interesting marketing things coming out that will help us. And again, we're sitting here the third week in April, or the fourth week I should say, and we're talking about first quarter data. I can't stress that enough, it's incrementally growing every week. So we're very excited to talk about it in the future as it comes. We're hoping that the marketing really sticks and it's noteworthy. And I can't stress this enough, this is different than a lot of the other transaction -- or a lot of the other tools that are out there in the market right now. This was built on a chat platform. And what that means is the ability to walk people through the tool if they're getting stuck or if there is an issue at a moment in time. And there is also the ability when they leave the tool to send them a link to start right back where they were so there is no starting over. So it's not just the incremental sale or the conquest sale when they go through the whole tool, but it's also the follow up and recovering the sale and bringing them back. And we're very hyper-focused on tracking all the KPI. And as we accumulate more, we'll certainly share that as well.
Stephanie Benjamin -- Truist -- Analyst
Absolutely. And then just to follow up on that. When you speak to the incremental advertising, is that going to be just in your existing markets or will you also look to maybe you mentioned Phoenix as an example kind of entering a new market as well with some of these investments or advertising investments.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure, Stephanie, I'll say this. Our intent soon will be to test this product in markets we don't do business in. I really don't want to start talking about specifics, but it will be in short time that we experiment in markets where we don't currently do business. That is the fact.
Stephanie Benjamin -- Truist -- Analyst
Got it. And then lastly for me, just on acquisitions, you've mentioned that -- and it's pretty apparent that it's a pretty active market right now. So I'm just curious if you're -- if what you're targeting I think in the past, looking to expand a little bit more on luxury, so maybe in terms of brand concentration or geography. Has that changed at all just those new opportunities. May we have come up as of late. I mean, really you couldn't really consider in your past just trying to to kind of gauge as you're looking at the M&A environment what's most appealing at this stage?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
No, it's a great question, Stephanie. Again, 35 years of doing this. Brand strengths come and go. Certain luxury brands are hotter than heck and years later they slow down and I think it's really about having a balanced portfolio. After doing the Park Place deal we had a lot of conversations where dealers in other parts of the country wanted same multiple that we paid Park Place. And I'll just pick a brand just for a conversation. If you have one luxury brand, the multiple is different, even though it's the same brand, whether you're talking, Massachusetts, California, Michigan or Texas or Florida, because the franchise laws are different within each individual state, seasonality of the business, density of population, business friendly state or not. So we really spend a lot of time looking at each individual acquisition and where it sits within the market and do we think that this is a proper return for us. I mean, I've just recently had this conversation with someone else asking why we wouldn't offer them the same as what we paid for Park Place and I just simplistically said it's not Texas. I mean, it's a different market with different franchise laws. If one state has a franchise law no franchise within 15 miles, in another state it's five miles, I don't know how you don't factor that in when you're looking at the pricing.
Stephanie Benjamin -- Truist -- Analyst
Absolutely. That's really helpful. Well, I appreciate all the additional color today.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from Bret Jordan with Jefferies.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Good morning, this is Mark Jordan on for Bret. Well, a lot of good questions have already been asked, but I guess I have two quick questions and you may have touched on them both already, but thinking about the parts and service segment and in particular our customer pay. Can you talk about how it trended throughout the quarter and many if trends have continued to accelerate through April kind of what you're seeing there.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. I would call January pretty promising and stable. It wasn't quite pre-COVID numbers, but it was continuing to come back and I would call it close to being flat. Just because the way February played out, it really varied by market because of weather, but I'll call February a step back, but I think it was more to do to weather than anything else and March was just the full acceleration forward, and all the numbers, specifically around customer pay, were ahead of pre-COVID numbers going back to '19. We're seeing that same result as we sit here in April, and we anticipate that for the rest of the year. We think there's a lot of pent-up demand. Now, if something happens in the fall, the virus comes back, I mean I can't obviously comment on that. I'm just saying, as I said in my comments earlier, people are back on the road, the collision business is back, the customer pay business is back. Warranty being down, I don't look at that is anything. It is what it is, you can't do warranty work if it's not needed. So that's just a reactionary thing.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Okay, great. And then it seems like competition for sourcing attractive used vehicles is very high right now, and thinking trade-ins might be down in terms of unit volume. Are you having to shift more to purchasing vehicles directly from customers, and if so, kind of how competitive would you say that channel is right now given May competitors might be increasing sourcing from the same channel?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
It's an excellent question. We're taking in less trades because we're selling -- we're not selling the cars we should be selling based upon the demand right now. But we're still from a percentage standpoint, we're still taking in the amount of trades we always did prior, it's just different volume levels. We are having to seek other avenues and some of those avenues have dried up. There's a lot of -- it's kind of like the residential real estate market. I mean there is an awful lot of buyers out there and there's not a lot of sellers out there. So it's a little bit more difficult getting inventory. People are certainly paying up for that, you see it at the auctions and you certainly see it in the Manheim data that comes out. We don't think that that's going to change anytime soon, especially with what's going on with the new car inventory. I don't know if Dan want to comment or add to that Dan or?
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
No, I think you covered it well, David.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Okay, great, thank you very much for taking my questions.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our last question here is David Whiston with Morningstar.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
Thanks, good morning. Do you guys -- I guess how bad did you guys want higher inventory or -- at the risk of giving up some of your pricing power you are now enjoying? Do you want a lot more, a little more, or can it stay where it is even?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah, David, we're smiling over here, and listen, because it's such a fair and greedy question to ask. Yeah, that's a great question. The problem is, look at -- it's all -- everyone looks great, everyone is reporting good numbers, everyone is showing high margins. We didn't all of a sudden get that much better, it's simplistically supply and demand. There is that point where you're missing a lot of sales because you just don't have the inventory. Domestic truck for us was brutal in the quarter. We were really down in trucks. I mean, we didn't have the inventory to sell, so we wanted a lot more than what we had. I would tell you the industry performs well and stability exist when there's probably a 60 to 70 days supply in the market. And right now with all the government spending that's going on and people coming out, the demand is going to be high right now, and the fear is the inventory won't be there to match the demand.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
Okay. And what happens now when the customers coming in really set [Phonetic] on buying a new -- a particular new vehicle, you have to tell them you don't have it due to inventory. Does that customer intent on buying another new vehicle, buying a used vehicle, or just [inaudible]
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Hi, good morning, David. This is Dan. So in a lot of cases we have really become even more efficient on taking a pre-order for a lack of a better term. So perhaps the car that is an income in unit, that is actually being built or already on the transportation. In a lot of cases we're seeing a lot of cars that are being delivered by the trucking company and they're going in for our pre-delivery inspection, getting detailed and coming right out for delivery. So I can tell -- and in a lot of cases where we just don't have that availability of that particular model, customers are a little bit more flexible on maybe giving of a particular package or maybe taking additional package that they were not considered at the beginning.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
Okay. And shifting over to the rise of Tesla in particular their model Y. I'm just curious is that hurting your Toyota Honda or your premium brand stores at all, and do you have any customers, especially at the Park Place Group wanting to pay in Bitcoin?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
No, to answer all your questions. No, not yet. Not at this point, no. Haven't had the consumers come to us with a Bitcoin request yet, and haven't really felt a strong competitive point from Tesla. I think a lot of their sales come from California and certainly other parts of the country, but it's not a real dominant player in the markets we currently transact in.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
Okay. I appreciate the detail. That's helpful. And just for PJ or Karen, just real quick. The three special items, where were they booked for GAAP?
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
They're booked in other income, David.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
Okay, all right, thanks guys.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you very much. Appreciate it. This concludes today's discussion. We appreciate your participation and we look forward to speaking with you all in the next quarter. Have a great day.
Duration: 58 minutes
Call participants:
Karen Reid -- Head of Investor Relations and Treasurer
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Patrick J. Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc -- Analyst
John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst
Stephanie Benjamin -- Truist -- Analyst
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
More ABG analysis
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG) Q1 2021 Earnings Call Apr 27, 2021, 10:00 a.m. Duration: 58 minutes Call participants: Karen Reid -- Head of Investor Relations and Treasurer David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations Patrick J. Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- Truist -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. As a result of our operational performance, our balance sheet remains in a very strong position, and we ended the quarter with approximately $550 million of liquidity comprised of cash floor plan offset accounts and availability on both our used line and revolving credit facility. | Duration: 58 minutes Call participants: Karen Reid -- Head of Investor Relations and Treasurer David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations Patrick J. Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- Truist -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG) Q1 2021 Earnings Call Apr 27, 2021, 10:00 a.m. Participating with me today are David Hult, our President and Chief Executive Officer; PJ Guido, our Chief Financial Officer; and Dan Clara, our Senior Vice President of Operations. | Duration: 58 minutes Call participants: Karen Reid -- Head of Investor Relations and Treasurer David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations Patrick J. Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- Truist -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG) Q1 2021 Earnings Call Apr 27, 2021, 10:00 a.m. Participating with me today are David Hult, our President and Chief Executive Officer; PJ Guido, our Chief Financial Officer; and Dan Clara, our Senior Vice President of Operations. | Duration: 58 minutes Call participants: Karen Reid -- Head of Investor Relations and Treasurer David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations Patrick J. Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- Truist -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG) Q1 2021 Earnings Call Apr 27, 2021, 10:00 a.m. The strong demand in the face of lower days supply helped us deliver a strong gross margin of 17.5%, an expansion of 60 basis points versus the first quarter of last year. |
28736.0 | 2021-04-26 00:00:00 UTC | A Closer Look At Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.'s (NYSE:ABG) Impressive ROE | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/a-closer-look-at-asbury-automotive-group-inc.s-nyse%3Aabg-impressive-roe-2021-04-26 | nan | nan | Many investors are still learning about the various metrics that can be useful when analysing a stock. This article is for those who would like to learn about Return On Equity (ROE). To keep the lesson grounded in practicality, we'll use ROE to better understand Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG).
Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.
How To Calculate Return On Equity?
ROE can be calculated by using the formula:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Asbury Automotive Group is:
28% = US$254m ÷ US$906m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).
The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of $0.28.
Does Asbury Automotive Group Have A Good Return On Equity?
One simple way to determine if a company has a good return on equity is to compare it to the average for its industry. The limitation of this approach is that some companies are quite different from others, even within the same industry classification. Pleasingly, Asbury Automotive Group has a superior ROE than the average (19%) in the Specialty Retail industry.
NYSE:ABG Return on Equity April 26th 2021
That's what we like to see. With that said, a high ROE doesn't always indicate high profitability. A higher proportion of debt in a company's capital structure may also result in a high ROE, where the high debt levels could be a huge risk . To know the 3 risks we have identified for Asbury Automotive Group visit our risks dashboard for free.
How Does Debt Impact Return On Equity?
Virtually all companies need money to invest in the business, to grow profits. That cash can come from retained earnings, issuing new shares (equity), or debt. In the first two cases, the ROE will capture this use of capital to grow. In the latter case, the debt required for growth will boost returns, but will not impact the shareholders' equity. Thus the use of debt can improve ROE, albeit along with extra risk in the case of stormy weather, metaphorically speaking.
Combining Asbury Automotive Group's Debt And Its 28% Return On Equity
Asbury Automotive Group does use a high amount of debt to increase returns. It has a debt to equity ratio of 2.24. While no doubt that its ROE is impressive, we would have been even more impressed had the company achieved this with lower debt. Debt does bring extra risk, so it's only really worthwhile when a company generates some decent returns from it.
Conclusion
Return on equity is one way we can compare its business quality of different companies. A company that can achieve a high return on equity without debt could be considered a high quality business. All else being equal, a higher ROE is better.
But when a business is high quality, the market often bids it up to a price that reflects this. It is important to consider other factors, such as future profit growth -- and how much investment is required going forward. So you might want to check this FREE visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.
If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | To keep the lesson grounded in practicality, we'll use ROE to better understand Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG). NYSE:ABG Return on Equity April 26th 2021 That's what we like to see. Pleasingly, Asbury Automotive Group has a superior ROE than the average (19%) in the Specialty Retail industry. | To keep the lesson grounded in practicality, we'll use ROE to better understand Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG). NYSE:ABG Return on Equity April 26th 2021 That's what we like to see. ROE can be calculated by using the formula: Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Asbury Automotive Group is: 28% = US$254m ÷ US$906m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020). | To keep the lesson grounded in practicality, we'll use ROE to better understand Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG). NYSE:ABG Return on Equity April 26th 2021 That's what we like to see. ROE can be calculated by using the formula: Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Asbury Automotive Group is: 28% = US$254m ÷ US$906m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020). | To keep the lesson grounded in practicality, we'll use ROE to better understand Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG). NYSE:ABG Return on Equity April 26th 2021 That's what we like to see. A higher proportion of debt in a company's capital structure may also result in a high ROE, where the high debt levels could be a huge risk . |
28737.0 | 2021-04-13 00:00:00 UTC | Police search headquarters of Spain's Abengoa | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/police-search-headquarters-of-spains-abengoa-2021-04-13 | nan | nan | MADRID, April 13 (Reuters) - Police searched the Seville headquarters of Spanish engineering and energy group Abengoa SA ABG.MC on Tuesday as part of an investigation led by high court prosecutors, the Guardia Civil force said.
A Guardia Civil spokesman said no arrests were made during the search, which comes in the middle of a bidding war for the holding companyof Abengoa SA which voluntarily entered bankruptcy proceedings in February.
Abengoa declined to comment.
A judicial source said the search related to a legal complaint brought by a group of shareholders in 2016 over alleged investor fraud and falsification of documents during previous financial troubles.
As part of the investigation, a high court judge requested various documents from Abengoa, as well as audit firms KPMG and Deloitte, the sources said.
KPMG and Deloitte were not immediately available for comment.
Last week a group of foreign investors and retail shareholders made a non-binding takeover bid worth 200 million euros ($238 million) for a 70% stake in Abenewco1, the holding company which owns most of Abengoa's assets.
Their bid gatecrashed an earlier non-binding offer from a group of investors led by Los Angeles-based private equity fund TerraMar Capital LLC. That offer was also worth 200 million euros and aims to control 70% of the company. It included a 50 million euro capital increase.
In 2016 Abengoa narrowly avoided becoming Spain's largest corporate bankruptcy after striking a deal to refinance 9 billion euros ($10.71 billion) of debt, handing control of the company to an assortment of banks and investment funds.
The deal failed to solve the company's woes and by the end of 2019, the most recent period for which complete figures are available, Abengoa posted a 549 million euro loss, while its total debt stood at 5.95 billion euros.
A proposed restructuring to tackle the debt mountain unravelled in February, prompting the bankruptcy proceedings.
($1 = 0.8402 euros)
(Reporting by Nathan Allen; editing by Jesús Aguado; editing by Jason Neely)
((n.allen@thomsonreuters.com; +34 617 792 131;))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | MADRID, April 13 (Reuters) - Police searched the Seville headquarters of Spanish engineering and energy group Abengoa SA ABG.MC on Tuesday as part of an investigation led by high court prosecutors, the Guardia Civil force said. A Guardia Civil spokesman said no arrests were made during the search, which comes in the middle of a bidding war for the holding companyof Abengoa SA which voluntarily entered bankruptcy proceedings in February. A judicial source said the search related to a legal complaint brought by a group of shareholders in 2016 over alleged investor fraud and falsification of documents during previous financial troubles. | MADRID, April 13 (Reuters) - Police searched the Seville headquarters of Spanish engineering and energy group Abengoa SA ABG.MC on Tuesday as part of an investigation led by high court prosecutors, the Guardia Civil force said. Last week a group of foreign investors and retail shareholders made a non-binding takeover bid worth 200 million euros ($238 million) for a 70% stake in Abenewco1, the holding company which owns most of Abengoa's assets. In 2016 Abengoa narrowly avoided becoming Spain's largest corporate bankruptcy after striking a deal to refinance 9 billion euros ($10.71 billion) of debt, handing control of the company to an assortment of banks and investment funds. | MADRID, April 13 (Reuters) - Police searched the Seville headquarters of Spanish engineering and energy group Abengoa SA ABG.MC on Tuesday as part of an investigation led by high court prosecutors, the Guardia Civil force said. Last week a group of foreign investors and retail shareholders made a non-binding takeover bid worth 200 million euros ($238 million) for a 70% stake in Abenewco1, the holding company which owns most of Abengoa's assets. In 2016 Abengoa narrowly avoided becoming Spain's largest corporate bankruptcy after striking a deal to refinance 9 billion euros ($10.71 billion) of debt, handing control of the company to an assortment of banks and investment funds. | MADRID, April 13 (Reuters) - Police searched the Seville headquarters of Spanish engineering and energy group Abengoa SA ABG.MC on Tuesday as part of an investigation led by high court prosecutors, the Guardia Civil force said. A Guardia Civil spokesman said no arrests were made during the search, which comes in the middle of a bidding war for the holding companyof Abengoa SA which voluntarily entered bankruptcy proceedings in February. As part of the investigation, a high court judge requested various documents from Abengoa, as well as audit firms KPMG and Deloitte, the sources said. |
28738.0 | 2021-04-09 00:00:00 UTC | Abengoa holding company gets $240 mln rival bid from foreign investors, minorities | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/abengoa-holding-company-gets-%24240-mln-rival-bid-from-foreign-investors-minorities-2021-04 | nan | nan | MADRID, April 9 (Reuters) - A group of foreign investors and retail shareholders have made a non-binding takeover bid worth 200 million euros ($238 million) for a 70% stake in Abenewco1, the holding company of Spanish engineering and energy group Abengoa SA ABG.MC.
Abengoa said on Friday the offer, led by Mexican investors, consists of an injection of 135 million euros in loans and 65 million euros in financial instruments in the subsidiary Abenewco 1.
In early February, Abengoa voluntarily started a bankruptcy process after its creditors refused to extend a deadline for negotiating a restructuring agreement.
Abenewco1, which holds most of its parent company's assets and liabilities and employs most of the group's 13,500 workers, was not part of the insolvency proceedings.
Last month, Abenewco1 had received a non-binding offer from a group of investors led by Los Angeles-based private equity fund TerraMar Capital LLC. This offer was also worth 200 million euros and aims to control 70% of the company. It also included a 50 million euro capital increase.
Under the rival offer, a group led by Caabsa, a Mexican infrastructure group, and EPI/Ultramar oil and gas firm, said it was conditional on approval of 249 million euros in state aid Abenewco1 had recently requested.
The new offer, which would be implemented in two different phases, also foresees a 50 million euros capital increase.
A proposed restructuring to tackle Abengoa's 6 billion euro debt mountain unravelled in February after the regional government of Andalusia withdrew an offer of 20 million euros in funding as part of a 250 million euro overall deal.
The Seville-based business had borrowed heavily in the preceding decade to fund an aggressive expansion into clean energy from its traditional infrastructure projects.
($1 = 0.8412 euros)
(Reporting by Jesús Aguado, editing by Andrei Khalip and Jane Merriman)
((jesus.aguado@thomsonreuters.com; +34 91 585 8339; Reuters Messaging: Reuters Messaging: jesus.aguado.reuters.com@reuters.net))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | MADRID, April 9 (Reuters) - A group of foreign investors and retail shareholders have made a non-binding takeover bid worth 200 million euros ($238 million) for a 70% stake in Abenewco1, the holding company of Spanish engineering and energy group Abengoa SA ABG.MC. In early February, Abengoa voluntarily started a bankruptcy process after its creditors refused to extend a deadline for negotiating a restructuring agreement. Last month, Abenewco1 had received a non-binding offer from a group of investors led by Los Angeles-based private equity fund TerraMar Capital LLC. | MADRID, April 9 (Reuters) - A group of foreign investors and retail shareholders have made a non-binding takeover bid worth 200 million euros ($238 million) for a 70% stake in Abenewco1, the holding company of Spanish engineering and energy group Abengoa SA ABG.MC. It also included a 50 million euro capital increase. A proposed restructuring to tackle Abengoa's 6 billion euro debt mountain unravelled in February after the regional government of Andalusia withdrew an offer of 20 million euros in funding as part of a 250 million euro overall deal. | MADRID, April 9 (Reuters) - A group of foreign investors and retail shareholders have made a non-binding takeover bid worth 200 million euros ($238 million) for a 70% stake in Abenewco1, the holding company of Spanish engineering and energy group Abengoa SA ABG.MC. Abengoa said on Friday the offer, led by Mexican investors, consists of an injection of 135 million euros in loans and 65 million euros in financial instruments in the subsidiary Abenewco 1. A proposed restructuring to tackle Abengoa's 6 billion euro debt mountain unravelled in February after the regional government of Andalusia withdrew an offer of 20 million euros in funding as part of a 250 million euro overall deal. | MADRID, April 9 (Reuters) - A group of foreign investors and retail shareholders have made a non-binding takeover bid worth 200 million euros ($238 million) for a 70% stake in Abenewco1, the holding company of Spanish engineering and energy group Abengoa SA ABG.MC. Abengoa said on Friday the offer, led by Mexican investors, consists of an injection of 135 million euros in loans and 65 million euros in financial instruments in the subsidiary Abenewco 1. In early February, Abengoa voluntarily started a bankruptcy process after its creditors refused to extend a deadline for negotiating a restructuring agreement. |
28739.0 | 2021-04-06 00:00:00 UTC | Should You Review Recent Insider Transactions At Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG)? | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/should-you-review-recent-insider-transactions-at-asbury-automotive-group-inc.-nyse%3Aabg | nan | nan | We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So we'll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG).
What Is Insider Buying?
It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required.
We don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. As Peter Lynch said, 'insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise'.
Asbury Automotive Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
The President, David Hult, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$4.1m worth of shares at a price of US$165 each. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$197). As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. It is worth noting that this sale was only 35% of David Hult's holding.
Insiders in Asbury Automotive Group didn't buy any shares in the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!
NYSE:ABG Insider Trading Volume April 6th 2021
If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.
Asbury Automotive Group Insiders Are Selling The Stock
The last quarter saw substantial insider selling of Asbury Automotive Group shares. Specifically, insiders ditched US$6.5m worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. In light of this it's hard to argue that all the insiders think that the shares are a bargain.
Insider Ownership of Asbury Automotive Group
For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that Asbury Automotive Group insiders own 0.7% of the company, worth about US$28m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.
So What Do The Asbury Automotive Group Insider Transactions Indicate?
Insiders haven't bought Asbury Automotive Group stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. But it is good to see that Asbury Automotive Group is growing earnings. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. You'd be interested to know, that we found 3 warning signs for Asbury Automotive Group and we suggest you have a look.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.
For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | So we'll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG). NYSE:ABG Insider Trading Volume April 6th 2021 If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. | So we'll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG). NYSE:ABG Insider Trading Volume April 6th 2021 If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying. Asbury Automotive Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year The President, David Hult, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. | So we'll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG). NYSE:ABG Insider Trading Volume April 6th 2021 If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying. Asbury Automotive Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year The President, David Hult, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. | So we'll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG). NYSE:ABG Insider Trading Volume April 6th 2021 If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying. Insiders in Asbury Automotive Group didn't buy any shares in the last year. |
28740.0 | 2021-03-17 00:00:00 UTC | Spain's Abengoa requests $297 mln in state aid for Abenewco1 unit | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/spains-abengoa-requests-%24297-mln-in-state-aid-for-abenewco1-unit-2021-03-17 | nan | nan | By Jesús Aguado
MADRID, March 17 (Reuters) - Spanish engineering and energy firm Abengoa SA said on Wednesday its Abenewco1 holding company had requested a 249 million euro ($297 million) temporary state aid package to stay afloat while it evaluates a non-binding takeover bid.
In early February, parent company Abengoa SA ABG.MC voluntarily started a bankruptcy process after its creditors refused to extend a deadline for negotiating a restructuring agreement.
Abenewco1, which holds most of its parent company's assets and liabilities and employs most of the group's 13,500 workers, was not part of the insolvency proceedings.
A proposed restructuring to tackle Abengoa's 6 billion euro debt mountain unravelled in February after the regional government of Andalusia withdrew an offer of 20 million euros in funding as part of a 250 million euro overall deal.
The Seville-based business had borrowed heavily in the preceding decade to fund an aggressive expansion into clean energy from its traditional infrastructure projects.
On Wednesday, Abengoa said as part of a new transaction, Abenewco1 had received a non-binding offer from a group of investors led by Los Angeles-based private equity fund TerraMar Capital LLC, which aims to control 70% of the company after subscribing to a 50 million euro capital increase.
The offer consists of a 150 million euro loan divided into a 35 million euro short-term liquidity line and an additional disbursement of 115 million euros.
Abengoa said TerraMar's financing and investment offer was conditional on it securing new financing and new bonding lines, in line with previous agreements announced in August 2020.
In early August, the company secured a complex deal with its creditors guaranteeing state financing of up to 250 million euros and a bonding line of 300 million.
Abenweco 1 said on Wednesday that the new refinancing plan based on the non-binding offer was "the only feasible option".
($1 = 0.8398 euros)
(Reporting by Jesús Aguado; Editing by Andrei Khalip, Nathan Allen and Jan Harvey)
((jesus.aguado@thomsonreuters.com; +34 91 585 8339; Reuters Messaging: Reuters Messaging: jesus.aguado.reuters.com@reuters.net))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | In early February, parent company Abengoa SA ABG.MC voluntarily started a bankruptcy process after its creditors refused to extend a deadline for negotiating a restructuring agreement. By Jesús Aguado MADRID, March 17 (Reuters) - Spanish engineering and energy firm Abengoa SA said on Wednesday its Abenewco1 holding company had requested a 249 million euro ($297 million) temporary state aid package to stay afloat while it evaluates a non-binding takeover bid. The Seville-based business had borrowed heavily in the preceding decade to fund an aggressive expansion into clean energy from its traditional infrastructure projects. | In early February, parent company Abengoa SA ABG.MC voluntarily started a bankruptcy process after its creditors refused to extend a deadline for negotiating a restructuring agreement. By Jesús Aguado MADRID, March 17 (Reuters) - Spanish engineering and energy firm Abengoa SA said on Wednesday its Abenewco1 holding company had requested a 249 million euro ($297 million) temporary state aid package to stay afloat while it evaluates a non-binding takeover bid. In early August, the company secured a complex deal with its creditors guaranteeing state financing of up to 250 million euros and a bonding line of 300 million. | In early February, parent company Abengoa SA ABG.MC voluntarily started a bankruptcy process after its creditors refused to extend a deadline for negotiating a restructuring agreement. By Jesús Aguado MADRID, March 17 (Reuters) - Spanish engineering and energy firm Abengoa SA said on Wednesday its Abenewco1 holding company had requested a 249 million euro ($297 million) temporary state aid package to stay afloat while it evaluates a non-binding takeover bid. A proposed restructuring to tackle Abengoa's 6 billion euro debt mountain unravelled in February after the regional government of Andalusia withdrew an offer of 20 million euros in funding as part of a 250 million euro overall deal. | In early February, parent company Abengoa SA ABG.MC voluntarily started a bankruptcy process after its creditors refused to extend a deadline for negotiating a restructuring agreement. By Jesús Aguado MADRID, March 17 (Reuters) - Spanish engineering and energy firm Abengoa SA said on Wednesday its Abenewco1 holding company had requested a 249 million euro ($297 million) temporary state aid package to stay afloat while it evaluates a non-binding takeover bid. Abenewco1, which holds most of its parent company's assets and liabilities and employs most of the group's 13,500 workers, was not part of the insolvency proceedings. |
28741.0 | 2021-02-25 00:00:00 UTC | ABG Crosses Above Average Analyst Target | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/abg-crosses-above-average-analyst-target-2021-02-25 | nan | nan | In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $166.50, changing hands for $170.42/share. When a stock reaches the target an analyst has set, the analyst logically has two ways to react: downgrade on valuation, or, re-adjust their target price to a higher level. Analyst reaction may also depend on the fundamental business developments that may be responsible for driving the stock price higher — if things are looking up for the company, perhaps it is time for that target price to be raised.
There are 8 different analyst targets contributing to that average for Asbury Automotive Group Inc, but the average is just that — a mathematical average. There are analysts with lower targets than the average, including one looking for a price of $137.00. And then on the other side of the spectrum one analyst has a target as high as $180.00. The standard deviation is $18.958.
But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $166.50/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $166.50 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? Below is a table showing the current thinking of the analysts that cover Asbury Automotive Group Inc:
RECENT ABG ANALYST RATINGS BREAKDOWN
» Current 1 Month Ago 2 Month Ago 3 Month Ago
Strong buy ratings: 4 4 4 3
Buy ratings: 1 1 1 0
Hold ratings: 3 3 3 5
Sell ratings: 0 0 0 0
Strong sell ratings: 0 0 0 0
Average rating: 1.81 1.81 1.81 2.25
The average rating presented in the last row of the above table above is from 1 to 5 where 1 is Strong Buy and 5 is Strong Sell. This article used data provided by Zacks Investment Research via Quandl.com. Get the latest Zacks research report on ABG — FREE.
10 ETFs With Most Upside To Analyst Targets »
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $166.50, changing hands for $170.42/share. And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $166.50/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $166.50 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. | In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $166.50, changing hands for $170.42/share. But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $166.50/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $166.50 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? | And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $166.50/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $166.50 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $166.50, changing hands for $170.42/share. But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. | In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $166.50, changing hands for $170.42/share. But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $166.50/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $166.50 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? |
28742.0 | 2021-02-22 00:00:00 UTC | Spain's Abengoa on the brink as creditors lose patience | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/spains-abengoa-on-the-brink-as-creditors-lose-patience-2021-02-22 | nan | nan | By Nathan Allen and Jesús Aguado
MADRID, Feb 22 (Reuters) - The future of troubled Spanish engineering and renewables company Abengoa ABG.MC hung in the balance on Monday after creditors refused to extend talks on a restructuring agreement.
A proposed restructuring to tackle Abengoa's 6 billion euro ($7.3 billion) debt mountain has unravelled since the regional government of Andalusia withdrew an offer of 20 million euros in funding as part of the overall deal.
Since September Abengoa has repeatedly postponed the deadline to complete negotiations while it scrambled for alternatives to the Andalusia funding, but its creditors appear to have run out of patience.
"In the absence of renewed consent to the deadline extension, the restructuring agreement has been automatically terminated," Abengoa said in a market statement on Monday.
The board will meet immediately to decide how to best protect the company's interests, the company added, without saying when the meeting would take place or what could be decided.
A spokesman for the regional government said that Andalusia did not have adequate tools to inject direct aid for the company.
A spokesman from the Budget Ministry declined to comment on whether Abengoa could be entitled to receive help from a 10 billion euro fund that focuses on bailing out companies in strategic sectors.
In 2016 Abengoa narrowly avoided becoming Spain's largest corporate bankruptcy after striking a deal to refinance 9 billion euros of debt, handing control of the company to an assortment of banks and investment funds.
The Seville-based business, which employs about 13,500 people, had borrowed heavily in the preceding decade to fund an aggressive expansion into clean energy from its traditional expertise in designing and building infrastructure projects.
By the end of 2019 - the most recent period for which complete figures are available - Abengoa's total debt was 5.95 billion euros.
After cutting annual losses to 549 million euros in 2019, from nearly 1.5 billion euros in 2018, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought fresh troubles, stalling new projects and forcing the company back into talks with lenders.
Abengoa eventually secured a complex preliminary deal that would have seen most of its assets transferred to a holding company, which would in turn receive 230 million euros in state-backed loans. But that has now collapsed.
Trading in Abengoa's shares has been suspended for months.
($1 = 0.8241 euros)
(Reporting by Nathan Allen and Jesús Aguado Editing by Ingrid Melander and David Goodman)
((n.allen@thomsonreuters.com; +34 617 792 131;))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | By Nathan Allen and Jesús Aguado MADRID, Feb 22 (Reuters) - The future of troubled Spanish engineering and renewables company Abengoa ABG.MC hung in the balance on Monday after creditors refused to extend talks on a restructuring agreement. In 2016 Abengoa narrowly avoided becoming Spain's largest corporate bankruptcy after striking a deal to refinance 9 billion euros of debt, handing control of the company to an assortment of banks and investment funds. The Seville-based business, which employs about 13,500 people, had borrowed heavily in the preceding decade to fund an aggressive expansion into clean energy from its traditional expertise in designing and building infrastructure projects. | By Nathan Allen and Jesús Aguado MADRID, Feb 22 (Reuters) - The future of troubled Spanish engineering and renewables company Abengoa ABG.MC hung in the balance on Monday after creditors refused to extend talks on a restructuring agreement. A proposed restructuring to tackle Abengoa's 6 billion euro ($7.3 billion) debt mountain has unravelled since the regional government of Andalusia withdrew an offer of 20 million euros in funding as part of the overall deal. ($1 = 0.8241 euros) (Reporting by Nathan Allen and Jesús Aguado Editing by Ingrid Melander and David Goodman) ((n.allen@thomsonreuters.com; +34 617 792 131;)) The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | By Nathan Allen and Jesús Aguado MADRID, Feb 22 (Reuters) - The future of troubled Spanish engineering and renewables company Abengoa ABG.MC hung in the balance on Monday after creditors refused to extend talks on a restructuring agreement. A proposed restructuring to tackle Abengoa's 6 billion euro ($7.3 billion) debt mountain has unravelled since the regional government of Andalusia withdrew an offer of 20 million euros in funding as part of the overall deal. A spokesman from the Budget Ministry declined to comment on whether Abengoa could be entitled to receive help from a 10 billion euro fund that focuses on bailing out companies in strategic sectors. | By Nathan Allen and Jesús Aguado MADRID, Feb 22 (Reuters) - The future of troubled Spanish engineering and renewables company Abengoa ABG.MC hung in the balance on Monday after creditors refused to extend talks on a restructuring agreement. A proposed restructuring to tackle Abengoa's 6 billion euro ($7.3 billion) debt mountain has unravelled since the regional government of Andalusia withdrew an offer of 20 million euros in funding as part of the overall deal. Since September Abengoa has repeatedly postponed the deadline to complete negotiations while it scrambled for alternatives to the Andalusia funding, but its creditors appear to have run out of patience. |
28743.0 | 2021-02-09 00:00:00 UTC | Validea Joel Greenblatt Strategy Daily Upgrade Report - 2/9/2021 | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/validea-joel-greenblatt-strategy-daily-upgrade-report-2-9-2021-2021-02-09 | nan | nan | The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Earnings Yield Investor model based on the published strategy of Joel Greenblatt. This value model looks for companies with high return on capital and earnings yields.
ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 20% to 90% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. is an automotive retailer in the United States. The Company owns and operates approximately 90 dealerships, consisting of 113 franchises. It also operates approximately 25 collision repair centers. Its stores offer a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. Its new vehicle revenues include new vehicle sales and lease transactions arranged by dealerships with third-party financial institutions.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: PASS
Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC.
Full Guru Analysis for ABG
Full Factor Report for ABG
ENERGIZER HOLDINGS INC (ENR) is a mid-cap growth stock in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 60% to 80% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Energizer Holdings, Inc. is a manufacturer, marketer and distributor of household batteries, specialty batteries and lighting products. The Company is a designer and marketer of automotive fragrance and appearance products. It operates through four geographic segments: North America, which consists of the United States and Canada; Latin America, which includes its markets in Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and South America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Asia Pacific, which consists of its markets in Asia, Australia and New Zealand. The Company offers batteries using lithium, alkaline, carbon zinc, nickel metal hydride, zinc air and silver oxide constructions. These products are sold under the Energizer and Eveready brands in the performance, premium and price segments and include primary, rechargeable, specialty and hearing aid products. It manufactures, distributes and markets lighting products, including headlights, lanterns, kid's lights and area lights.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: FAIL
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. Full Guru Analysis for ABG Full Factor Report for ABG ENERGIZER HOLDINGS INC (ENR) is a mid-cap growth stock in the Electronic Instr. The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Earnings Yield Investor model based on the published strategy of Joel Greenblatt. | Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. Full Guru Analysis for ABG Full Factor Report for ABG ENERGIZER HOLDINGS INC (ENR) is a mid-cap growth stock in the Electronic Instr. ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Its stores offer a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. | ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. Full Guru Analysis for ABG Full Factor Report for ABG ENERGIZER HOLDINGS INC (ENR) is a mid-cap growth stock in the Electronic Instr. Its stores offer a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. | ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. Full Guru Analysis for ABG Full Factor Report for ABG ENERGIZER HOLDINGS INC (ENR) is a mid-cap growth stock in the Electronic Instr. The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Earnings Yield Investor model based on the published strategy of Joel Greenblatt. |
28744.0 | 2021-02-02 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive Group Inc (ABG) Q4 2020 Earnings Call Transcript | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-group-inc-abg-q4-2020-earnings-call-transcript-2021-02-02 | nan | nan | Image source: The Motley Fool.
Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG)
Q4 2020 Earnings Call
Feb 2, 2021, 10:00 a.m. ET
Contents:
Prepared Remarks
Questions and Answers
Call Participants
Prepared Remarks:
Operator
Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Asbury Automotive Group Q4 2020 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] And at this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Matt Pettoni. Please go ahead.
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Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer
Thanks, operator and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Asbury Automotive Group's fourth quarter 2020earnings call Today's call is being recorded and will be available for replay later today. The press release detailing Asbury's fourth quarter results were issued earlier this morning and is posted on our website at asburyauto.com.
Participating with me today are David Hult, our President and Chief Executive Officer; P.J. Guido, our Chief Financial Officer; and Dan Clara, our Senior Vice President of Operations. At the conclusion of our remarks, we will open the call up for questions and I will be available later for any follow-up questions you might have.
Before we begin, I must remind you that the discussion during the call today is likely to contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements other than those which are historical in nature, including those statements relating to the duration and contemplated impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and financial performance as well as the financial projections and expectations about our products, markets and growth.
All forward-looking statements are subject to significant uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those suggested by the statements, including potential impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic on us, our industry and our customers, suppliers, vendors and business partners. For information regarding certain of the risks that may cause actual results to differ please see our filings with the SEC from time to time, including our Form 10-K for the year ended December 2019, any subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our earnings release issued earlier today. We expressly disclaim any responsibility to update forward-looking statements. In addition, certain non-GAAP financial measures as defined under SEC rules may be discussed on this call. As required by applicable SEC rules, we provide reconciliations of any such non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures on our website.
It is my pleasure to hand the call over to our CEO, David Hult. David?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, Matt. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our fourth quarterearnings call We just reported another all-time record fourth quarter despite continued volatility and uncertainty in the economy. As SAAR recovered from Q2 lows, we delivered a strong gross margin of 16.7%, which expanded 80 basis points versus Q4 of last year. We also remain very active in managing expenses and we achieved SG&A as a percentage of gross profit of 61.4%. Our focus on gross profit and expense management once again produced a great quarter. With adjusted EPS of $4.44, up 76% over the prior year.
I would also like to call out that 2020 as a whole was a record year for Asbury. For the full year, we grew adjusted EPS by 36%. Increased adjusted income from operations by over $70 million to $405 million, an increase of 21% and the highest level ever. We acquired a Chrysler Jeep Dodge store in Denver from John Elway. We acquired eight Park Place's dealerships, two collision centers and one auction center in Dallas, which in total added $1.9 billion in annualized revenue. We launched Clicklane, our communication technology and ecosystem, which allows for a true online car buying and selling transaction. We publicly announced our five-year strategic plan, which targets growing the company to $20 billion in revenue by 2025.
Our balance sheet remains strong due to our performance in cash flow. Our pro forma net leverage ended this quarter at 2.1 times. This will allow us to maintain a more active acquisition pipeline and grow our business strategically by deploying capital. Looking back over the last three years. We have dramatically transformed our portfolio by acquiring $2.5 billion and divesting $700 million in annualized revenue. Our acquisitions had much higher margins than our divestitures and were accretive to our overall margin. This helped us achieve our 5.7% operating margin compared to 4.6% in 2018. We will continue to optimize our portfolio in the future.
Turning to our key objectives in 2021. We will continue to build a strong culture obsessed with the guest experience. Rollout our Clicklane platform to all stores by the end of Q1, be great partners to our OEMs by delivering an exceptional and transparent guest experience. Grow our same-store revenue across all departments, build our M&A pipeline to support our goal of acquiring $5 billion of revenue by 2025 and maintain net leverage at or below 3 times, while executing a more active capital allocation strategy.
Finally, we know the only differentiator we have in our franchise system is the level of service we offer. Our strong performance is because of all the men and women in our stores who'd show up every day committed to serving our guests with passion and professionalism. Their incredible performance inspires all of us to be better today than we were yesterday. Our future is bright and we look forward to sharing this journey with all of our teammates, who run our business every day. We are thankful they are here making a meaningful difference.
I will now hand the call over to Dan to discuss our operating performance, Dan?
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Thank you, David and good morning, everyone. My remarks will pertain to our same-store performance compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. Looking at new vehicles. Based on current market conditions, our focus remains on improving margins and not chasing volume. Our new gross profit per vehicle was up $779 per car or 49% from the prior year period. All segment margins were up significantly from the prior year period. Factoring in the acquisition of Park Place, we increased our luxury mix to 48%, driving our all store PVRs up $1,282 a car or 79%. At the end of December, our total new vehicle inventory was $640 million and our day supply was 40 days, down 26 days from the prior year. As a reminder, 40 days is an average composite of all of our brands. Some of our brands were below 20 day supply during the quarter and experienced major challenges due to the lack of inventory. We expect that day supply to remain low for the first half of the year, but gradually recover for the back half as production capacity recovers.
Turning to used vehicles. Our gross profit margin was 7.1%, up 60 basis points from the prior period, representing our gross profit per vehicle of $1,741. Similar to our new vehicle strategy in the current market condition, we focused on being opportunistic with our inventory and improving growth to maximize profits. As a result of our performance, our used retail gross profit was up 10%. Our used vehicle inventory ended December at $189 million, which represents a 31 day supply, up two days from the prior year.
Turning to F&I. Our strong consistent and sustainable growth in F&I delivered an increase of $126 to $1,817 per vehicle retail from the prior year quarter. In the fourth quarter, our front-end yield per vehicle increased $701 per car to a fourth quarter record of $3,924. In addition, if you include reconditioning gross profit, which we report in parts and service, our front-end yield per vehicle was $4,582 per car. Turning to parts and service. Although our parts and service revenue decreased in the quarter, our business improved from the lows in April, but the recovery continues to be choppy due to the pandemic.
And now, I would like to provide an update on our omnichannel initiatives. In December, we launched Clicklane, which is the latest evolution in our omnichannel strategy that we began more than five years ago. Clicklane is a communications technology ecosystem, which allows for a true online car buying and selling experience. It feels many other guests that exist with online automotive retail platforms currently on the market. Features that are unique to this platform includes, penny perfect trading values and loan payoffs, real payment figures based on local taxes and fees, a loan marketplace, which now includes more than 30 lenders, VIN-specific finance and insurance products customized to the vehicle and consumer, the ability to sign all documents online via DocuSign, the in-tool service and collision appointment scheduled scheduler. Early results and guest feedback on our Clicklane platform have been extremely encouraging.
We piloted Clicklane in three stores for the full month of December and the results have exceeded expectations. These three stores double their online car sales versus the prior year period. In addition, customers have commented on the great transparency, ease of use and ability to complete a transaction in minutes. The average timing to the guest to complete a total online transaction, including arranging the financing was 14 minutes and it took only 8 minutes for an entire transaction without financing or an all-cash deal. Since the end of Q4, we've continued with our rollout of Clicklane and expect to have all the stores rolled out by the end of Q1. With the majority of stores connected during the second half of Q1.
And finally, looking at the results from our first full quarter of Park Place, reconfirms why we made the acquisition. The first full quarter contributed meaningfully to our top line and profitability results. And we are well on track to deliver the synergies we have targeted within the timeframe previously outlined. I would like to take this opportunity to express appreciation to all of our teammates in the field for their continued focus on the guest experience, their commitment to continuous improvement and their perseverance during 2020.
I will now hand the call over to P.J. to discuss our financial performance. P.J.?
Patrick J. Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Thank you, Dan and good morning, everyone. I would like to provide some financial highlights, which marks another record quarter for our company in this still uncertain macro environment. For additional details on our financial performance for the quarter, I would refer you to our financial supplement in our press release dated today February 2. Overall compared to the fourth quarter of last year, total revenue was 18% higher than last year due to completed acquisitions and improvement in F&I, PVRs and higher average selling prices for both new and used. Gross margin expanded by 80 basis points to 16.7% driven by our proactive inventory management and focus on improving gross profit per unit.
Moving down the P&L. We saw SG&A as a percent of gross profit decreased by 690 basis points to 61.4%. This is due to proactive expense reductions and efficiencies gained on personnel and advertising. Our actions to maximize gross profit and control expenses resulted in a record fourth quarter adjusted operating margin of 6%, an increase of 140 basis points about the same period last year. Adjusted EPS increased by 76% versus the prior period, maintaining momentum from the previous quarter. Net income for the fourth quarter 2020 was adjusted for a $3.9 million or $0.15 per diluted share pre-tax gain on a dealership divestiture.
Net income for the fourth quarter of 2019 was adjusted for a $7.1 million pre-tax charge for franchise rights imperatives or $0.27 per diluted share. A $6 million -- $600,000 pre-tax charge for real estate related charges or $0.03 per diluted share and a $600,000 pre-tax gain from a legal settlement or $0.03 per diluted share. Our effective tax rate was 24.8% for the full year 2020 compared to 24.4% in 2019. Floor plan Interest expense for the quarter decreased by $4.6 million over the prior year quarter, driven primarily by lower inventory levels and lower LIBOR rates. With respect to capital deployed this quarter, we spent approximately $20 million on store improvements and real estate and we spent approximately $80 million on debt repayment, which includes fully paying off our used line. Also during the quarter, we divested a Ford dealership in Georgia, which generated approximately $50 million in annualized revenues. As a result of our operational performance, our balance sheet remains in a very strong position and we ended the quarter with approximately $462 million of liquidity comprised of cash, floor plan offset accounts, availability and availability on both our used line and revolving credit facility. Also at the end of the quarter, our pro forma net leverage stood at 2.1 times, well below our targeted leverage range of 3.0 times.
I would now like to make a few comments regarding our expectations for 2021. We are still operating in a volatile environment with limited visibility, but do anticipate a gradual recovery in the second half of 2021 as COVID vaccines get rolled out and OEM production capacity improves. As a result, we are planning our business for a SAAR approximating 16 million units. But we'll remain nimble and vigilant to adapt to whatever conditions evolve. And inventories begin to normalize and the economy opens up, we believe our parts and service gross profit see the full recovery. We also believe that SG&A as a percentage of gross profit should continue to benefit from active expense management and improved productivity. We are also planning for a tax rate in 2021 of approximately 25% and capex of approximately $55 million. This amount excludes real estate purchases and potential lease buyout opportunities that we consider to be financing transactions.
Finally, I would like to also provide a quick review of our five-year plan we unveiled at our launch of Clicklane in December. Our five-year strategic plan is to add $12 billion of revenue by 2025, expand our operating margins and grow EPS in excess of revenue growth. Specifically, this includes driving same-store revenue growth of $2 billion over five years, acquiring $5 billion of additional revenue over five years and adding an incremental $5 billion of revenue through the new Clicklane platform. In closing, I would also like to thank our teams across the business, who continued to work tirelessly during this unprecedented time to ensure our current and long-term success.
We will now turn the call over to the operator and take your questions. Operator?
Questions and Answers:
Operator
[Operator Instructions] We'll take our first question from Rick Nelson with Stephens Incorporated. Please go ahead.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens, Inc. -- Analyst
Thanks and good morning. So I wanted talk about the same-store units both new and used cars, new down 6%, used down 9%. It sounds like you've taken a strategy where you're going to try to maximize GPUs. If you could speak to that what you think is happening from -- to market share about [Indecipherable] strategy will continue.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. Rick, good morning and thanks for the question. This is David. I would tell you we went into it with the approach of, we can see our day supply and where we're at. We're sitting in October, we can see what we have for inventories and what's coming by the end of the year. And we know what a large month December is for luxury. So I would tell you on the new car side, we launched unit sales, because we just weren't chasing volumes because we couldn't replace the inventory. So we just thought it was a better return on our cash to maximize the gross profit as best as possible. As Dan pointed out, even with that strategy in December, we had many stores below at 20 day supply and that's a 20 day supply across all model line, so individual hot models you didn't have any day supply. So there is no question that hurt the unit sales.
On the pre-owned side, again it's not about chasing volume for us it's about maximizing our returns. We make far greater profits when we sell a vehicle that we've traded for then when we go out and purchase a vehicle. So we've tried to be more opportunistic and at least that these challenging months when inventories to and prices are high at the auction to really just maintain the gross as best we can and give the greatest returns we can. So I would tell you, we sat here a quarter ago and thought by the end of the first quarter days supply would be back up to normal, but because what's going on with the microchips and some other things, it's probably going to bleed well into the second quarter before inventories gets back. You never really know how that ends up, but we're going into each month, we're looking at it, how do we maximize our return. Even with some of those numbers, we actually exceeded market share in some markets and some we didn't. We're not looking at that short-term market share gain or loss, we're kind of looking at the overall picture and return. So we're happy with our strategy in the way it's played out so far.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens, Inc. -- Analyst
Great. That's helpful color. I hope so at the inventory front, when things do normalize, it sounds like the back half of 2021 and here current tax expectation. Do you think you can hold down to some of those GPUs? Do we go back to 2019 pre-COVID level? Sort of your expectation there.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. As a company, I don't think we'll go back to pre-COVID because the acquisition of Park Place just does move our overall numbers. Do I think that we will maintain this when things get back to normal, I'm sure, there'll be some drop-off in some areas, very difficult to predict what incentives are going to be, what the days supply is going to be like and what the economic conditions. But from everything that we see we're very excited about 2021. We see our business growing in 2021 compared to 2020. And there might be different things moving around in those numbers throughout, but very opportunistic about what 2021 offers. And quite honestly, the acquisition pipeline is certainly active right now. So there's a lot of good things happening in this space and we certainly want to be disciplined and execute as best we can.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens, Inc. -- Analyst
Okay. Just to follow up on that comment about the acquisition pipeline. If you could speak to that what you're seeing in terms of pricing out there. I know you stepped up the buyback authorization as well as your preference to acquisition versus buybacks at the moment.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. Rick, I would say generally overall, what gives the greatest returns for our shareholders and the best way for us to deploy capital. The pipeline for our conversations and activity was kind of slow around the holidays, it dramatically picked up in January. And we're having a lot of meaningful conversations with different folks right now. So it's early. We'll see where it goes. But we're very engaged in a lot of conversations and excited about that. As far as the pricing and overall multiples, it's a competitive space right now. And there is a lot of buyers out there. And I'm sure there's a lot of sellers that want to make sure that they're concerned about their legacy and who they sell to. So it will be an interesting year and see what happens. But I'm sure from an M&A perspective, at least what we see so far, it should be an active year.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens, Inc. -- Analyst
Great. Thanks for all of that. Sure, go ahead.
Patrick J. Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Sorry, this is P.J. I would just add that we do have a capital allocation policy. And first and foremost, we want to reinvest in our core business, and then we look to delever to the extent we're over our target. And as I mentioned earlier, we're well below our target, which means our balance sheet has capacity for acquisitions, which as David said, we're maintaining an active pipeline. And to the extent there is cash left over in the waterfall, we would look to return to shareholders.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens, Inc. -- Analyst
Great. Thanks for the color and good luck.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, Rick.
Operator
We'll take our next question from John Murphy with Bank of America. Please go ahead.
John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst
All right. Good morning, everybody. First question on the Park Place acquisition and integration. It seems like we've gone even better than plan on the integration more hiccups whatsoever and actually they are helping to drive the better performance, [Indecipherable]. I'm just curious if there's any lessons learned here on targets or the actual integration process. Exactly what I mean, it's just seems like it's -- still in and actually been sort of a net benefit right off the bat, which is clearly made some acquisition.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure, John. This is David, I'll start. It really just speaks to the Park Place folks and their level of professionalism changing hands going through a buy-sell 1,400 employees. There's a lot of moving pieces and I'm sure there's a lot of frustrated folks on the Park Place side. I think both sides went at it with the intent that there is a level of respect and trust for one another and work through the issues that came up. But it's truly a credit to them. Certainly in the quarter, the luxury mix that they have in the low-day supply that benefited us as well. But I'll tell you, post acquisition we've got exactly what we thought we're getting, which is amazing teammates, who are really passionate and professional with what they do every single day and committed to what they do.
I would say in the last couple of years, that's been our big difference. When we look at acquisitions, we just don't look at the revenue stream, we're really interested in how the business runs and whether it would be a good steward of the business. And what if the Colorado acquisitions or the Indiana ones, I think so far the model that we're working on as far as when we look at acquisitions and integrate, we've been pretty successful at making sure we would be a good steward of the business.
John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Okay. That's incredibly helpful. Just a second question around parts and service, obviously there is some choppiness here. The world and the markets are volatile. So it's somewhat understandable. But if you think about parts and service, when do you think that normalizes, is it post-production sort of mid this year or maybe the second half or could it normalized sooner and how much deferred maintenance you think there's out there that you might catch up on over time?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. And just as a reminder, those numbers to our collision numbers and collision still maintains 20% to 30% back from prior year. I'll tell you, the virus, while it's only been around for a year, it feels like it's been around longer and it was dramatic when it first hit, but then it kind of cooled off through the summer and business started bouncing coming back. In the fourth quarter, we went negative in parts and service in November and we came back positive in December. And we're starting January off a little bit more volatility. So I would tell you, these high positive rates that you're seeing across the country and the number of deaths a day over 4,000 are playing an impact on the parts and service business. It varies a little bit by market, but generally that's the theme.
So we feel confident as the vaccines rollout and things normalized parts and service not only comes back, it should have a nice tailwind. To your point on pent-up demand with service work that's our opinion. And they believe right now is somewhere between June and late July, early August is when we think that we should really start to get back in a groove of a normal look in parts and service. Could be sooner, it's hard to predict with what's going on to vaccine and it's very fluid, we're all reading about it every day. But that's the way we see it right now.
John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst
I hope for all of us for the long a sooner, but that's, yes, that's helpful. And then just lastly on SG&A. Obviously, last few quarters you run in the 51% range, grosses are high rates in the year, there will be the denominator it's benefited to some degree. So if you think about SG&A going forward has something structurally changed here that you think that you can operate in this low 60s or maybe even better over time as quickly and it takes off and you're able to leverage the whole base of your bricks-and-mortar.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
I would say there's three main levers. Like I said in my statement, some of the divestitures and some of the acquisitions really lifted our margins and those were stores that had a history of higher margin business when we were lower margin business. I think there's definitely going to be a sustainable pickup there. We also changed our production per employee when the downturn hit and we stayed disciplined with that. And to your point with Clicklane, it's only three stores, it's one full month, but it's up over 100% pretty close to each. Most of them were luxury brands that we tried Clicklane in. So we're very hopeful between those three levers that there is a meaningful difference here in SG&A over time as well.
John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Okay. But would you underwrite 60 -- something in the low 60% range now or you really kind of, saw where this is going to land.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. I would say, it's still bouncing around right now. I mean our goal through the next view, I would say, this quarter is maintaining higher operating margins and maximizing our opportunity. Depending when we get back to normal, depending upon where margins lay, I think we'll certainly be in a much better position from an SG&A standpoint than we were pre-COVID. But where exactly about land, I think there's too many variables to call that right now.
John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Okay. Thank you very much.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
We'll take our next question from Ryan Sigdahl with Craig-Hallum Capital Group. Please go ahead.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Thanks for taking the questions. Just wanted to dig in a little bit on the online, so specifically looking at Slide 11 and 12. So it shows internet leads down sequentially or I guess year-over-year down a little bit, online service appointments also kind of trending lower. As you're expanding your Clicklane, you talk about a lot of traction you're gaining online. I guess, can you just talk through the sequential decline and kind of the moving pieces there.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. So I'll talk about the decline in traffic and then the comment on Clicklane. One thing is true for our industry, when you have more inventory online you have more leads and more eyeballs on your side. So part of the traffic coming down was lack of inventory, we had more inventory I don't think the leads would have been down as much. The other piece of it was too is trying to be more strategic with the marketing dollars. Knowing we had less of an inventory, it really makes sense to create some supply of leads where we really didn't have the product there to sell it.
On the Clicklane side, the growth that we're talking about on Clicklane, I would say the material difference when we made that comment and I am going to compare PushStart which most of our stores are on today compared to Clicklane it's the conversion. It's not the lead counts up with Clicklane, it's the conversion on Clicklane and is up dramatically from PushStart.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Great. And then just on Clicklane. Four rollout by the end of Q1, you have 3 beta tested in December. Can you talk through the cadence of how you're going to roll that out over the next couple of months, and all at once or stage -- what the cadence plan to start?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. We have the whole company set up, we're rolling out depending upon the size of the stores and when anywhere between eight to 12 stores a week. And we'll also include toward the tail end of the quarter Park Place, which in the fourth quarter did not offer in online transactional tool at all. So they'll get their first shot or first look at it if you will, at the end of Q1. It wasn't at all in their sites in Q4.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Okay. Thanks and I'll turn it over. Good luck.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
We'll take our next question from Adam Jonas with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
All right. Everybody can you hear me?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes.
Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
So a couple of questions for you here. So a couple of questions for you here. [Indecipherable] sales in ICE-powered vehicles. I'm just wondering if you could refresh us on as a rapid move to EV in any concern, a long-term debt holder about your business, including your P&S business. And I'm also noticing a lot of start-ups are moving to direct to consumer models. And they insist, they don't want to use existing dealer franchises. Apple is entering the auto industry, it's our understanding they don't want to do a franchise dealer model, although that's not fully confirmed but they want to control the downstream distribution. If there are -- David that you're acquiring legacy brick-and-mortar dealerships that still sell legacy ICE OEM products, ICE intense P&S, how can you assure shareholders that you're not doubling down on this ICE legacy tech at the worst possible time at the end of the ICE? Thanks.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure, Adam. I would tell you that our manufacturer partners have been building quality cars for a long time and they're all in the process of transitioning to EV and we'll certainly go along for the ride in the journey with them and be great partners to them. And I would tell you like any industry that has spurts if you will. There's a lot of EV companies that are coming out, we'll see which ones make and which ones don't, which ones consolidate and which one share and sell their technology. I would also tell you, as I'm sure you're aware, some of them that will be launching car soon. But literally as we speak, working with third-party vendors to try and figure out how they're going to handle parts and service on the back side.
So I don't think that's a well thought out model either. And I think there is something about -- there's something tried and true to the supply chain and mechanisms that work now. So the mechanism whether it's ICE or electrification or hybrids or whatever it might be, it doesn't really matter. We're here locally in the community to sell and service the vehicles and have been for many years and have a strong reputation and know how to do it. We're not making it up as we go. We're figuring out as we go or how to handle a recall.
Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Appreciate, David. Thanks.
Operator
We'll take our next question from Rajat Gupta with JPMorgan. Please go ahead.
Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst
Good morning everyone. Thanks for taking my questions. Just a follow-up on the SG&A question earlier. I'm not sure if I missed it earlier, but could you give us a sense of where you expect the SG&A growth to lined up like in some sort of range that anything you want to walk around for this year, just based on what are the expectations are for GPUs [Indecipherable] rest of the year. And I have a follow up. Thanks.
Patrick J. Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yes. Rajat, it's P.J. So on SG&A, as David mentioned, it's difficult to forecast in this environment. What we do know is the leverage we generated in Q3 and Q4, predominantly driven on the personnel side and then the balance in advertising and other related costs. What we have confidence in is that those -- there are structural changes there that we will continue to benefit from in the form of higher productivity whether it's units per salesperson, average growth per associate, we track a lot of metrics. And we do see that our productivity is up and we hope to or we are confident that we can retain that. As the production comes back online, again, we're looking at the latter half of the year. We do expect to see some pressure on growth, which will put pressure on SG&A. But again, the structural changes we've made and the fact that we're very active in managing expense gives us confidence that our SG&A will be -- will continue to be favorable.
Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst
Got it. Is there anything within the SG&A [Indecipherable] any follow in the execution around advertising might look like, which again in the context of rolling on this Clicklane platform and even broadening the reach of that platform. Outside just normalization in advertising spending back to pre-COVID level, should we expect a further after beyond that? Just for Clicklane purchase or is that another case?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
This is David. And if I got the question wrong, I apologize. It was cutting in and out a little bit, but as it relates to marketing in Clicklane, if you look at us against our peers, we've traditionally and still do, I guess I can't speak for the fourth quarter, but prior to that have the lowest dollars per car spend in marketing. So I think it was a business we're going to get. Once Clicklane is fully rolled out in our stores by the end of Q1 for the first time we will make an investment and spend some dollars marketing Clicklane to drive traffic. We never really marketed PushStart that much. We will market Clicklane.
So I don't know that you'll see much of a meaningful difference in the PVR at the end of the quarter, but there will be some dollars spent on it. The SG&A, because we've kept our head count down our productivity is up, there is always opportunity in compensation and certainly operating expenses. And I think we've been fairly disciplined over time regarding that and we'll continue to look at that. And we think our plan moving forward will keep us certainly competitive and probably in the better half with our peer group.
Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst
Got it. That's helpful. Just last one for me, any color, when you talked about like the chip shortages and like the margin strength here in the near-term. Any color on what January was in terms of just units? Is there -- are you seeing the same situation that is in the fourth quarter with respect to the demand with the GPU trade out? Or has any change so far in January? In general, how is the demand environment looking like here in January?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. Yes, absolutely. In January, always a little bit of a letdown from December, but I would tell you compare this January to the last 35 have been in the business was very surprised by the activity and the overall performance in January it was amazingly resilient and we're very pleased with how January look. I will tell you, it's the same frustration very low day supply in a lot of areas. So there is that potential, what you could have sold compared to what you did sell just because of lack of inventory. But considering what went on with the pandemic in the month of January in the horrible numbers, we all saw nationally it was a productive January for us.
Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst
Got it. That's helpful. All right. That's all for me. Thanks and good luck.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Glenn Chin -- Seaport Global Securities -- Analyst
Great. Thank you. Good morning, gentlemen. So, David perhaps a question for you. I'm getting a lot of questions from investors just regarding the achievability of revenue and implied by in targets to Clicklane. Can you just remind us or share with us maybe a framework or the assumption underlying some your goals for Clicklane. Maybe if you could just start at the top of funnel and then narrow it down first? Maybe starting with TAM, the number of leads you expect to get from that, the conversion rates and the market share that ultimately implies?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. I'll -- and if I don't explain it well, Glenn, please just come back at me. We will start to spend money on Clicklane and we do expect additional traffic because of that. But when we talk about our model of the $5 billion with Clicklane it actually is not accounting for any additional traffic. It's basically looking at the traffic we have now and looking at the conversion on post-start and what we believe the conversion will be with Clicklane. So, for lack of a better term, if we had a 100 leads on PushStart and we close 10 of those leads out of 100 that's your conversion that 10% number. If we had those same 100 leads with Clicklane, we believe that number will be more than double that in year one. And by the time we get to year five like any -- tool enabling that takes place online, you think about airlines tickets when they first converted to online people who used to calling in, if you remember at the time they actually charge you more to call and then online because they were trying to push online. Once the acceptance level is there and people realize you can do a full transaction, we believe over the next five years that number will go up materially.
So we think 100% of the people are going to buy online, no, of course, not. But we certainly believe somewhere between 30% and 50% of the consumers will transact online over the next five years. So it's basically taking our traditional conversion rates. Looking at what push -- I mean, what Clicklane can do against PushStart and modeling that out over five years, which really no incremental growth on the Clicklane tool itself. So we think we're very conservative in our numbers in our approach. And again, one month out of the gate with only three stores, but within those three stores, you had [Indecipherable] luxury brands in a mid-line import. And I would tell you, again, month one out of the gate, we were conservative on our conversion numbers.
Glenn Chin -- Seaport Global Securities -- Analyst
Okay. And just speaking about that five-year window, David. I think you're quoting in Automotive News interview saying that you expected not Clicklane, but sort of the Clicklane type capability to be promising throughout the industry within two years. So after that two-years, when it is [Indecipherable] around the dealer network nationwide, do you expect that conversion rate or the traffic to diminish given the increased competition online.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
I don't, I kind of look at is, when the websites came online in the late 1990s, early 2000, walk in and phone traffic and now there was Internet. It just -- the traffic flows move into different channels. The benefit here to the overall automotive space will be the level of satisfaction to the consumers, the speed or an experience that the consumers can go through and how transparent it will be and how that will be beneficial and controlling cost within a store with the use of a tool like this really being accepted in this space. That's the opportunity that is really meaningful.
Glenn Chin -- Seaport Global Securities -- Analyst
And then the $5 billion target, David, is that all new and used retail? Is any of that parts and service or F&I?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Well, some of it's F&I, for sure. But no, it's not parts and service, it's just simply sales. When we talked about the five-year plan and we talked about the $2 billion in revenue growth in our store count, it didn't assume any acquisitions, obviously and we looked at our same-store sales what we have now and then we look to over the next five years, we looked at our service retention numbers, our market share numbers and where we thought what we can do with the brand. We did not factor in any economic downturn in that five-year model. We kind of assume a SAAR somewhere between 16% and 17% over that five-year period. Very conservative numbers, is everything that we do. So we just kind of modeled it that way and that's where the numbers laid if you will.
Glenn Chin -- Seaport Global Securities -- Analyst
Okay. I guess my question around F&I, David was not so much around volume because obviously you got a less increased volume of retail sales. But more around, I guess, increased penetration or attachment rates you're expecting with that.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
That's going to be subject because it's over time. But again, and it's a small sample. I'll talk to the four luxury stores and one mid-line import. And it's in three stores, but one store has multiple brands. I would tell you we're very pleased with the F&I numbers that we've seen so far. Again, I know it's only a few stores, I talked only 30-day, but in most cases were up significantly in F&I dollars per vehicle with the Clicklane tool so far, more than we forecasted for.
Glenn Chin -- Seaport Global Securities -- Analyst
And what do you think might be driving that?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
I think there is a convenience of consumers and consumers selling themselves. Most people sell themselves on something before they ever go out and purchase it and they justify why they're going to buy it and what they're going to pay for it. I think we focus on products that add value to the vehicle. The average length of ownership is almost 12 years in the country. There is a big purchase a big expense. I think if you can present products professionally price it fairly and give information on the products to allow consumers to make an educated decision. What you end up with is selling products.
Glenn Chin -- Seaport Global Securities -- Analyst
Okay. Great. Thanks very much. I appreciate the feedback. And just a quick housekeeping follow-up for P.J. P.J., did you guys say that your leverage target has changed, it was 2 times to 3 times, is it now just 3 times someone's asking?
Patrick J. Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yes. Hey, Glenn. So it's typically been or it's typically been 3 times, so 2 times to 3 times that's kind of a big window. Our target 3 times, we feel like that conservative imbalances both risk enables us to put the balance sheet to work.
Glenn Chin -- Seaport Global Securities -- Analyst
Okay. But just to clarify. Has your thinking around for you guys changed?
Patrick J. Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
No. 3 times.
Glenn Chin -- Seaport Global Securities -- Analyst
Okay. Very good. All right. Thanks very much, gentlemen. Good luck.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Patrick J. Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Thank you.
Operator
We'll take our next question from Stephanie Benjamin with Truist. Please go ahead.
Stephanie Benjamin -- Truist -- Analyst
Hi. Good morning.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Good morning.
Patrick J. Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Good morning, Stephanie.
Stephanie Benjamin -- Truist -- Analyst
I wanted to ask a bit about the used side of your business, just looking at whether it's growth or margins themselves decelerated in the fourth quarter still, obviously up on the growth by year-over-year. But you could speak a little bit about that, just given, we did see actually a slight acceleration in ASPs and even the unit performance. So if you could kind of walk through what you're seeing on the used business. Thank you.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. Stephanie, this is David. I would say, the best way to describe the used business right now is our goal is not to chase volume. Our goal is to chase return. We really track all the different avenues whether we purchased a car and the service charge, whether we acquired off the street whether we take it in trade or buy it at an auction and we say, what's our best investment and how do we get our highest return. I would say, we're very happy with our margin performance on pre-owned being up 10% in gross profit was kind of the target where we want it to be. I would tell you, the margins are not deceiving, but the cost of sale has really jumped up a lot. And if you think about it, it's probably up a couple of thousand dollars since 2018. I think we ended the quarter over $24,000, close to $24,400.
And when you think back at the end of Q4 2018, it was $22,010. So a material increase in cost of sales is going to have an effect on the margin. But just as a GPUs standpoint in Q4 of 2018, we were $15,041 a car. So we're still running a couple of hundred dollars a car ahead of where we were in a competitive market space and that's based on a same-store number. So we're confident in our plan. It's just really being opportunistic where we acquire inventory from. Our ability to make money in pre-owned is not going to be above the sale price, because the market dictates that it's really going to be about the acquisition price. And we're really trying to have a strategic plan on how to acquire the inventory and not just turnover the inventory at a low margin, but turn it over to a fair margin.
Stephanie Benjamin -- Truist -- Analyst
Great. And to follow up on that, as you rollout Clicklane and you noted some incremental kind of advertising or support behind that tool. Will that also include possibly some advertising about supplying your vehicle, through an online component kind of like some of your pure digital used peers out there and then buy your cars. Is that something up on the table?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. It's in the tool and the quick answer is, yes. It's on the homepage of the websites that are on those stores now. But absolutely as a part of it, yes.
Stephanie Benjamin -- Truist -- Analyst
Got it. Well, thank you so much.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
We'll take our next question from Bret Jordan with Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Good morning, guys.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Good morning.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
On the Clicklane, I guess in the test stores, is there any, I guess, information anecdotal may be that these are incremental customers or is it just a better conversion of folks that would have been coming to an Asbury store in the first place.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Bret, again, it's early on, it's a few stores. So I can share stories and give you real numbers. The answer is yes. It's both. It's higher conversion of the customers you may or may not have had before, but it's also we're seeing acquisitions, what I would call outside of our marketplace with pre-owned. And I think it's because they can actually do the transaction online, and I'll just give you one anecdotal sale. It was a $97,000 used Land Rover that was sold from our Greenville store in South Carolina and the person lived in the DFW marketplace. They put $13,000 down on their credit card, they finance the balance and did the whole transaction online and we delivered the car over 950 miles away. And obviously, there were a lot of local dealers and quite honestly, one of them was Park Place within that market space.
When you talk to that consumer, it was the ease and transparency with the vehicle that they wanted to be able to do the whole transaction online and have it be so transparent seamless with a great experience for them. So that's one story, we have many like that. But just I think the awareness of consumers actually they've all wanted this for a long time. So to know that it actually exists out there, a lot of them are stumbling on it by mistake when they see it on the website.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Are you finding just a different customer reaction between mid-line and luxury? I guess, you done that for us at a KIA dealership in Florida, are you seeing that luxury buyers are more likely to do in online and transaction in mid-line or is it similar?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
It's a fantastic question, I'd like to give you an honest answer by saying, I'd like to give you my thoughts before we started it and then tell you what the reaction was or the real numbers. Before we launched it, I assume they would take off with mid-line imports. And I was concerned what would happen with the luxury buyer. After December like usual I was wrong. It was accepted really well by the luxury buyers, it had nothing to do with price transactionally, it did well with the midline imports customers too, but I expected that. I was shocked how well it did with the luxury buyers.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Thanks. And I guess maybe you might have told us is before, but the $5 billion expected Clicklane revenues in 2025, what's the mix of new versus used in that outlook.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
So we kind of stick to our same -- well, I'll tell you this, with PushStart when we initially launched PushStart right out of the gate, it was a majority of new to used sales. Very soon it transitioned within months and it stayed there for years to where over two-thirds of it was pre-owned and a third of it was new. As we start off with Clicklane it's close to the 50-50 right now. But the way we've modeled it in, we've kind of again, we want to get granular with our five-year plan. And so we've built the five-year plan literally by rooftop. So we kind of kept to our used to new ratio, and then we kept the same sales volume just higher conversions on Clicklane.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Great. Thank you.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
We'll take our next question from David Whiston with Morningstar. Please go ahead.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
Thanks. Good morning. A question on Toyota's announcement yesterday on their new e-commerce platform. A lot of the capability to meet on a very similar to Clicklane, obviously at the end they do transfer the customer over to a dealer. But I'm just curious, having more automakers having a capability of their own like Clicklane, does that help you, hurt you or is it really neutral?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thanks for the question, Dave. This is David. I'll answer it the way I did in December on the Investor Day. I think it helps to space overall. Our franchise system is being challenged now. As John talked about earlier with start-up companies coming into this space, I think there is tool really levels that playing field and changes the experience. So I am excited to see my competitors within the franchise system get the tool and get them to see the benefits of it. So we actually see this is a very positive thing for our space and helps us in the long run dramatically.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
Okay. And on the used market, I'm just wondering if you could contrast or maybe compare that today's new vehicle customer seems very like truck focused and very on the high end trims focus versus a use customer who may be -- the used customer wants a van. Just what kind of differences that you're seeing in preferences between those two channels?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Dave, it's a great question. And I'll jump in and then -- this is David and then, Dan, if he wants. It's the same on the pre-owned and because it's more discretional income right now with what's going on, because people are spending on vacations are in bars or restaurants that kind of things. We've seen higher down payments in 2020 and we saw higher credit scores in 2020. And you could see that by the jump in our cost of sale of pre-owned people are stepping up buying more car with more equipment. They are looking for the trucks and the SUVs, when you have a used truck, you can't go wrong with it and it's going to move very quickly. When you have a nice sedan depending upon the price market that it's in, it may turn quickly or it may sit a little bit, but the used business is the same as the new, it's predominant SUV and truck.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
So in your opinion are sedans just going to keep shrinking? Do you think like car penetration stabilizes now or keeps growing?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
It's hard to say, I mean, over the last few decades, we've seen a lot of movement in a lot of different areas. And as you see electrification coming in, battery anxiety when you get to the SUV size and bigger vehicles, how that's going to come into play. There is still a huge issue that hasn't been addressed in the country with an infrastructure to support it. The demand there from the OEMs coming out of the products in the start-ups and there is the incentives there from the government, but there is not an infrastructure to charge it and support it. So I think and also the range anxiety that you talk to -- when you talk to customers that aren't just willing to go there yet. All that will change over time and things will get better and battery life will get better. But I'm sure no differently than we all know this that the electric cars that have been out there for years now. As they get out there 80,000, 90,000 miles their battery life as far as charging goes isn't what it was when the car was no. So there's a lot of things to work out over time with electrification to see how that goes. And what role that will play as it relates to sedan, SUV and truck market.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
Okay. And last question on the new generation of F-150, your four customers really anxious to buy that truck?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. It's a great question, David. I honestly can't say. We're not hearing, I'm not hearing a tremendously high demand right now. There is a tremendous amount of curiosity about seeing it and what it looks like and what the numbers would be as far as range and all that stuff. But I'm just not hearing it.
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
No, this is Dan, David. I have not heard anything in regards to that to be our new F-150. Although as you know the truck buyer is very, very loyal to the brand, probably one of the most loyal ones out there. So I would expect that there are loyal Ford buyer is definitely excited about it and can't wait for it to come out.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
Okay. Thanks, guys.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you very much.
Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer
This concludes today's discussion. We appreciate your participation and look forward to talking to you at the end of the quarter.
Duration: 61 minutes
Call participants:
Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Patrick J. Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Rick Nelson -- Stephens, Inc. -- Analyst
John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst
Glenn Chin -- Seaport Global Securities -- Analyst
Stephanie Benjamin -- Truist -- Analyst
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG) Q4 2020 Earnings Call Feb 2, 2021, 10:00 a.m. Duration: 61 minutes Call participants: Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations Patrick J. Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Rick Nelson -- Stephens, Inc. -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst Glenn Chin -- Seaport Global Securities -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- Truist -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Our actions to maximize gross profit and control expenses resulted in a record fourth quarter adjusted operating margin of 6%, an increase of 140 basis points about the same period last year. | Duration: 61 minutes Call participants: Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations Patrick J. Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Rick Nelson -- Stephens, Inc. -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst Glenn Chin -- Seaport Global Securities -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- Truist -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG) Q4 2020 Earnings Call Feb 2, 2021, 10:00 a.m. For information regarding certain of the risks that may cause actual results to differ please see our filings with the SEC from time to time, including our Form 10-K for the year ended December 2019, any subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our earnings release issued earlier today. | Duration: 61 minutes Call participants: Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations Patrick J. Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Rick Nelson -- Stephens, Inc. -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst Glenn Chin -- Seaport Global Securities -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- Truist -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG) Q4 2020 Earnings Call Feb 2, 2021, 10:00 a.m. On the Clicklane side, the growth that we're talking about on Clicklane, I would say the material difference when we made that comment and I am going to compare PushStart which most of our stores are on today compared to Clicklane it's the conversion. | Duration: 61 minutes Call participants: Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations Patrick J. Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Rick Nelson -- Stephens, Inc. -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Adam Jonas -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- JPMorgan -- Analyst Glenn Chin -- Seaport Global Securities -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- Truist -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG) Q4 2020 Earnings Call Feb 2, 2021, 10:00 a.m. We will market Clicklane. |
28745.0 | 2020-12-28 00:00:00 UTC | Soltec shares jump 11% on inclusion in Spain's general index | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/soltec-shares-jump-11-on-inclusion-in-spains-general-index-2020-12-28 | nan | nan | MADRID, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Shares of solar equipment maker Soltec SOLPW.MC jumped on Monday after the Spanish bourse BME said the recently listed company would be included in its general stock index in the first half of next year.
Soltec stocks were 11% higher at 11.24 euros ($13.76) in early trading. The shares have more than doubled in value since making their market debut in October.
Soltec was the first market listing on the Spanish bourse since December 2019.
BME also excluded its own shares and those of the telecom firm MasMovil, both of which had been delisted in the past months, as well as shares of the troubled renewable energy firm Abengoa ABG.MC from the general index which will now comprise 119 companies.
($1 = 0.8169 euros)
(Reporting by Inti Landauro, editing by Andrei Khalip)
((Inti.Landauro@thomsonreuters.com;))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | BME also excluded its own shares and those of the telecom firm MasMovil, both of which had been delisted in the past months, as well as shares of the troubled renewable energy firm Abengoa ABG.MC from the general index which will now comprise 119 companies. MADRID, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Shares of solar equipment maker Soltec SOLPW.MC jumped on Monday after the Spanish bourse BME said the recently listed company would be included in its general stock index in the first half of next year. ($1 = 0.8169 euros) (Reporting by Inti Landauro, editing by Andrei Khalip) ((Inti.Landauro@thomsonreuters.com;)) The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | BME also excluded its own shares and those of the telecom firm MasMovil, both of which had been delisted in the past months, as well as shares of the troubled renewable energy firm Abengoa ABG.MC from the general index which will now comprise 119 companies. MADRID, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Shares of solar equipment maker Soltec SOLPW.MC jumped on Monday after the Spanish bourse BME said the recently listed company would be included in its general stock index in the first half of next year. Soltec stocks were 11% higher at 11.24 euros ($13.76) in early trading. | BME also excluded its own shares and those of the telecom firm MasMovil, both of which had been delisted in the past months, as well as shares of the troubled renewable energy firm Abengoa ABG.MC from the general index which will now comprise 119 companies. MADRID, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Shares of solar equipment maker Soltec SOLPW.MC jumped on Monday after the Spanish bourse BME said the recently listed company would be included in its general stock index in the first half of next year. ($1 = 0.8169 euros) (Reporting by Inti Landauro, editing by Andrei Khalip) ((Inti.Landauro@thomsonreuters.com;)) The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | BME also excluded its own shares and those of the telecom firm MasMovil, both of which had been delisted in the past months, as well as shares of the troubled renewable energy firm Abengoa ABG.MC from the general index which will now comprise 119 companies. MADRID, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Shares of solar equipment maker Soltec SOLPW.MC jumped on Monday after the Spanish bourse BME said the recently listed company would be included in its general stock index in the first half of next year. Soltec stocks were 11% higher at 11.24 euros ($13.76) in early trading. |
28746.0 | 2020-11-03 00:00:00 UTC | Validea Joel Greenblatt Strategy Daily Upgrade Report - 11/3/2020 | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/validea-joel-greenblatt-strategy-daily-upgrade-report-11-3-2020-2020-11-03 | nan | nan | The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Earnings Yield Investor model based on the published strategy of Joel Greenblatt. This value model looks for companies with high return on capital and earnings yields.
MASTECH DIGITAL INC (MHH) is a small-cap growth stock in the Business Services industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 70% to 80% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Mastech Digital, Inc., formerly Mastech Holdings, Inc., is an information technology (IT) staffing and digital transformation services company. The Company offers Social, Mobility, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC), Automation and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. It is engaged in providing IT associates in digital and mainstream technologies, digital transformation services around Salesforce.com and SAP HANA, as well as digital learning services. SAP HANA is an in-memory platform both for Systems, Applications and Products (SAP) and non-SAP customers. Its stack of digital transformation services focuses on providing customer relationship management (CRM) on the cloud through Salesforce, driving IT efficiencies through SAP HANA and using digital methods. Its digital learning services puts together a custom training program for various organizational needs. The Company serves a range of industries, including insurance, banking, healthcare, aviation, manufacturing and telecommunication.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: FAIL
Detailed Analysis of MASTECH DIGITAL INC
Full Guru Analysis for MHH
Full Factor Report for MHH
MEDIFAST INC (MED) is a small-cap growth stock in the Biotechnology & Drugs industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 60% to 90% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Medifast, Inc. produces, distributes and sells weight loss, weight management, and healthy living products, and other consumable health and nutritional products. The Company's product lines include weight loss, weight management, and healthy living meal replacements, snacks, hydration products, and vitamins. Its business units include Optavia, Medifast Direct, Franchise Medifast Weight Control Centers (MWCC) and Medifast Wholesale. Optavia is a personal coaching division of the Company that consists of Optavia Coaches, who provides coaching and support to clients utilizing the Optavia platform. Medifast Direct is its direct-to-consumer business unit that allows customers to order Medifast products directly through its Website or its in-house call center. The MWCC business unit sells product through franchise and reseller locations, which offers structured programs and a team of professionals to help customers achieve weight-loss and weight-management success at center locations.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: PASS
Detailed Analysis of MEDIFAST INC
Full Guru Analysis for MED
Full Factor Report for MED
ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 20% to 90% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. is an automotive retailer in the United States. The Company owns and operates approximately 90 dealerships, consisting of 113 franchises. It also operates approximately 25 collision repair centers. Its stores offer a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. Its new vehicle revenues include new vehicle sales and lease transactions arranged by dealerships with third-party financial institutions.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: PASS
Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC.
Full Guru Analysis for ABG
Full Factor Report for ABG
CBIZ, INC. (CBZ) is a small-cap growth stock in the Personal Services industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 0% to 80% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: CBIZ, Inc. (CBIZ) is a provider of financial, insurance and advisory services. As an advisor to small and midsized businesses (SMB) across the United States, its comprehensive approach enables CBIZ to address its clients' challenges and offers accounting, insurance brokerage and related financial services. Its segments include Financial Services, Benefits and Insurance Services and National Practices. The Financial Services is comprised of core accounting services including traditional accounting, tax compliance and specialty services, including transaction and risk advisory services, litigation support, valuation, federal and state government health care compliance, real estate consulting and internal audit outsourcing nationwide. The Benefits and Insurance Services provides brokerage and consulting along lines of services, which include group health benefits consulting and brokerage, property and casualty brokerage, human capital management, life insurance and other related services
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: FAIL
Detailed Analysis of CBIZ, INC.
Full Guru Analysis for CBZ
Full Factor Report for CBZ
EASTMAN CHEMICAL COMPANY (EMN) is a large-cap growth stock in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 0% to 80% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Eastman Chemical Company (Eastman) is an advanced materials and specialty additives company. The Company's segments include Additives & Functional Products (AFP), Advanced Materials (AM), Chemical Intermediates (CI), and Fibers. In the AFP segment, it manufactures chemicals for products in the coatings, tires, consumables, building and construction, industrial applications, including solar energy markets, animal nutrition, care chemicals, crop protection, and energy markets. In the AM segment, it produces and markets its polymers, films, and plastics with differentiated performance properties for end uses in transportation, consumables, building and construction, durable goods, and health and wellness products. The CI segment leverages large scale and vertical integration from the cellulose and acetyl, olefins, and alkylamines streams to support its specialty operating segments. Its product lines in Fibers segment include Acetate Tow, Acetate Yarn and Acetyl Chemical Products.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: FAIL
Detailed Analysis of EASTMAN CHEMICAL COMPANY
Full Guru Analysis for EMN
Full Factor Report for EMN
More details on Validea's Joel Greenblatt strategy
Joel Greenblatt Stock Ideas
About Joel Greenblatt: In his 2005 bestseller The Little Book That Beats The Market, hedge fund manager Joel Greenblatt laid out a stunningly simple way to beat the market using two -- and only two -- fundamental variables. The "Magic Formula," as he called it, produced back-tested returns of 30.8 percent per year from 1988 through 2004, more than doubling the S&P 500's 12.4 percent return during that time. Greenblatt also produced exceptional returns as managing partner at Gotham Capital, a New York City-based hedge fund he founded. The firm averaged a remarkable 40 percent annualized return over more than two decades.
About Validea: Validea is aninvestment researchservice that follows the published strategies of investment legends. Validea offers both stock analysis and model portfolios based on gurus who have outperformed the market over the long-term, including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Martin Zweig. For more information about Validea, click here
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Detailed Analysis of MEDIFAST INC Full Guru Analysis for MED Full Factor Report for MED ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. Full Guru Analysis for ABG Full Factor Report for ABG CBIZ, INC. (CBZ) is a small-cap growth stock in the Personal Services industry. As an advisor to small and midsized businesses (SMB) across the United States, its comprehensive approach enables CBIZ to address its clients' challenges and offers accounting, insurance brokerage and related financial services. | Detailed Analysis of MEDIFAST INC Full Guru Analysis for MED Full Factor Report for MED ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. Full Guru Analysis for ABG Full Factor Report for ABG CBIZ, INC. (CBZ) is a small-cap growth stock in the Personal Services industry. Its stores offer a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. | Detailed Analysis of MEDIFAST INC Full Guru Analysis for MED Full Factor Report for MED ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. Full Guru Analysis for ABG Full Factor Report for ABG CBIZ, INC. (CBZ) is a small-cap growth stock in the Personal Services industry. Its stores offer a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. | Detailed Analysis of MEDIFAST INC Full Guru Analysis for MED Full Factor Report for MED ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. Full Guru Analysis for ABG Full Factor Report for ABG CBIZ, INC. (CBZ) is a small-cap growth stock in the Personal Services industry. The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Earnings Yield Investor model based on the published strategy of Joel Greenblatt. |
28747.0 | 2020-10-29 00:00:00 UTC | Earnings Beat: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Just Beat Analyst Forecasts, And Analysts Have Been Updating Their Models | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/earnings-beat%3A-asbury-automotive-group-inc.-just-beat-analyst-forecasts-and-analysts-have | nan | nan | It's been a sad week for Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG), who've watched their investment drop 13% to US$107 in the week since the company reported its third-quarter result. It looks to have been a decent result overall - while revenue fell marginally short of analyst estimates at US$1.8b, statutory earnings beat expectations by a notable 15%, coming in at US$4.96 per share. Earnings are an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance, look at what the analysts are forecasting for next year, and see if there's been a change in sentiment towards the company. We've gathered the most recent statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their earnings models, following these results.
NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue Growth October 29th 2020
Following the latest results, Asbury Automotive Group's nine analysts are now forecasting revenues of US$8.68b in 2021. This would be a substantial 28% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to shoot up 23% to US$13.36. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$8.66b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$12.85 in 2021. So the consensus seems to have become somewhat more optimistic on Asbury Automotive Group's earnings potential following these results.
There's been no major changes to the consensus price target of US$124, suggesting that the improved earnings per share outlook is not enough to have a long-term positive impact on the stock's valuation. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. The most optimistic Asbury Automotive Group analyst has a price target of US$170 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$94.00. Note the wide gap in analyst price targets? This implies to us that there is a fairly broad range of possible scenarios for the underlying business.
Another way we can view these estimates is in the context of the bigger picture, such as how the forecasts stack up against past performance, and whether forecasts are more or less bullish relative to other companies in the industry. It's clear from the latest estimates that Asbury Automotive Group's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 28% revenue growth noticeably faster than its historical growth of 1.8%p.a. over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to grow their revenue at 9.3% per year. Factoring in the forecast acceleration in revenue, it's pretty clear that Asbury Automotive Group is expected to grow much faster than its industry.
The Bottom Line
The biggest takeaway for us is the consensus earnings per share upgrade, which suggests a clear improvement in sentiment around Asbury Automotive Group's earnings potential next year. Fortunately, they also reconfirmed their revenue numbers, suggesting sales are tracking in line with expectations - and our data suggests that revenues are expected to grow faster than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at US$124, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.
With that in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on Asbury Automotive Group. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. We have estimates - from multiple Asbury Automotive Group analysts - going out to 2022, and you can see them free on our platform here.
That said, it's still necessary to consider the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Asbury Automotive Group , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | It's been a sad week for Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG), who've watched their investment drop 13% to US$107 in the week since the company reported its third-quarter result. NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue Growth October 29th 2020 Following the latest results, Asbury Automotive Group's nine analysts are now forecasting revenues of US$8.68b in 2021. It looks to have been a decent result overall - while revenue fell marginally short of analyst estimates at US$1.8b, statutory earnings beat expectations by a notable 15%, coming in at US$4.96 per share. | NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue Growth October 29th 2020 Following the latest results, Asbury Automotive Group's nine analysts are now forecasting revenues of US$8.68b in 2021. It's been a sad week for Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG), who've watched their investment drop 13% to US$107 in the week since the company reported its third-quarter result. It's clear from the latest estimates that Asbury Automotive Group's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 28% revenue growth noticeably faster than its historical growth of 1.8%p.a. | NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue Growth October 29th 2020 Following the latest results, Asbury Automotive Group's nine analysts are now forecasting revenues of US$8.68b in 2021. It's been a sad week for Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG), who've watched their investment drop 13% to US$107 in the week since the company reported its third-quarter result. It's clear from the latest estimates that Asbury Automotive Group's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 28% revenue growth noticeably faster than its historical growth of 1.8%p.a. | NYSE:ABG Earnings and Revenue Growth October 29th 2020 Following the latest results, Asbury Automotive Group's nine analysts are now forecasting revenues of US$8.68b in 2021. It's been a sad week for Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG), who've watched their investment drop 13% to US$107 in the week since the company reported its third-quarter result. So the consensus seems to have become somewhat more optimistic on Asbury Automotive Group's earnings potential following these results. |
28748.0 | 2020-09-17 00:00:00 UTC | After A 300% Rally, Sonic Automotive's Stock Looks Expensive | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/after-a-300-rally-sonic-automotives-stock-looks-expensive-2020-09-17 | nan | nan | Sonic Automotiveâs stock (NYSE: SAH) has rallied nearly 315% since late March (vs. about 49% for the S&P 500) to its current level around $41. This is after falling to levels of $10 in late March, as a rapid increase in the number of Covid-19 cases outside China spooked investors, and resulted in heightened fears of an imminent global economic downturn. The stock is currently above its February 2020 high of $29. Are the gains warranted or are investors getting ahead of themselves? We believe that the stock recovery is justified, but the stock has very little upside remaining in the near term. Why is that? Sonic Automotive, an automotive retailer, saw its stock price recover after the Fedâs multi-billion dollar stimulus package announced on March 23rd which lifted market sentiments. The company also saw better than expected earnings in Q2 2020 which further helped in the rise. The company announced a strategic partnership with Cox Automotive and Darwin Automotive to develop a proprietary e-commerce platform and user interface. This digital retailing partnership should help EchoPark expansion plans and elevate the online retail guest experience on the companyâs franchised dealership websites and EchoPark.com beginning in the fourth quarter of 2020. The market seems to have factored this in with the stock recovering past its 19th February level. We also have a detailed comparison of Sonic Automotiveâs stock performance during the current crisis with that during the 2008 recession in our dashboard analysis.
How Did Sonic Automotive Fare During The 2008 Downturn?
We see SAHâs stock declined from levels of around $20 in October 2007 (the pre-crisis peak) to roughly $1 in March 2009 (as the markets bottomed out) â implying that the stock lost as much as 93% of its value from its approximate pre-crisis peak. This marked a drop that was higher than the broader S&P, which fell by about 51%.
Further, SAHâs stock rose steadily post the 2008 crisis to about $10 in early 2010 â rising by about 626% between March 2009 and January 2010, as against the S&P which bounced back by about 48% over the same period.
In comparison, this year SAHâs stock lost 65% of its value between 19th February and 23rd March 2020, and has nearly recovered 315% since then. The S&P over the same time, fell by about 34% and rebounded by about 49%.
Is The Recovery Warranted & Can We Expect Further Gains?
The rally across industries over recent months can primarily be attributed to the Fed stimulus which largely quieted investor concerns about the near-term survival of companies. The flattening of Covid cases in the worst hit U.S. and European cities is also giving investors confidence that developed markets have put the worst of the pandemic behind them.
Sonic Automotive revenues saw a fall in Q2 2020 of this year, due to the pandemic lockdowns and social distancing measures. Revenue fell by 20% to $2.1 billion y-o-y. Earnings for the quarter improved to $0.72 compared to $0.62 in the previous year because of lower Finance costs and a lower effective tax rate.
Over the coming weeks, we expect continued improvement in demand and subdued growth in the number of new Covid-19 cases in the U.S. to boost market expectations. Following the Fed stimulus â which helped set a floor on fear â the market has been willing to âlook throughâ the current weak period and take a longer-term view, with investors focusing their attention on 2021 results.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | This is after falling to levels of $10 in late March, as a rapid increase in the number of Covid-19 cases outside China spooked investors, and resulted in heightened fears of an imminent global economic downturn. The rally across industries over recent months can primarily be attributed to the Fed stimulus which largely quieted investor concerns about the near-term survival of companies. Following the Fed stimulus â which helped set a floor on fear â the market has been willing to âlook throughâ the current weak period and take a longer-term view, with investors focusing their attention on 2021 results. | Sonic Automotive, an automotive retailer, saw its stock price recover after the Fedâs multi-billion dollar stimulus package announced on March 23rd which lifted market sentiments. In comparison, this year SAHâs stock lost 65% of its value between 19th February and 23rd March 2020, and has nearly recovered 315% since then. It has outperformed the broader market year after year, consistently. | Sonic Automotive, an automotive retailer, saw its stock price recover after the Fedâs multi-billion dollar stimulus package announced on March 23rd which lifted market sentiments. We see SAHâs stock declined from levels of around $20 in October 2007 (the pre-crisis peak) to roughly $1 in March 2009 (as the markets bottomed out) â implying that the stock lost as much as 93% of its value from its approximate pre-crisis peak. Following the Fed stimulus â which helped set a floor on fear â the market has been willing to âlook throughâ the current weak period and take a longer-term view, with investors focusing their attention on 2021 results. | Sonic Automotive, an automotive retailer, saw its stock price recover after the Fedâs multi-billion dollar stimulus package announced on March 23rd which lifted market sentiments. Revenue fell by 20% to $2.1 billion y-o-y. Following the Fed stimulus â which helped set a floor on fear â the market has been willing to âlook throughâ the current weak period and take a longer-term view, with investors focusing their attention on 2021 results. |
28749.0 | 2020-09-07 00:00:00 UTC | ACWA-led consortium secures financing for Jubail desalination plant | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/acwa-led-consortium-secures-financing-for-jubail-desalination-plant-2020-09-07 | nan | nan | DUBAI, Sept 7 (Reuters) - A consortium led by Saudi Arabian utility developer ACWA Power has signed financing agreements for a $650 million desalination project in the Saudi industrial city of Jubail.
The desalination plant, Jubail-3A IWP, will use sea water reverse osmosis to yield a capacity of 600,000 cubic metres per day.
The plant is being financed through limited recourse ring-fenced project financing from Al Rajhi Bank 1120.SE, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank ADIB.AD, Riyad Bank 1010.SE and Mizuho 8411.T, ACWA said in a statement. Earlier this month, Riyad Bank 1010.SE and Bank AlJazira 1020.SE provided equity bridge loans for the project.
It did not disclose the value of the financing.
ACWA Power, in consortium with Gulf Investment Company (GIC) and Al Bawani Water and Power Company, was awarded the project earlier this year at a tariff of $0.41 per cubic metre.
"We take great pride in having broken the record for the lowest tariff for desalinated potable water, thrice in the last three years, including for the Jubail-3A IWP project," ACWA Chief Investment Officer Rajit Nanda said in the statement.
Jubail-3A IWP, due to begin commercial operation towards the end of 2022, is part of a Saudi public-private partnership desalinated water procurement programme.
A consortium of Sepco III, Power China and Abengoa ABG.MC is contracted for the engineering, procurement and construction of the plant. An affiliate of First National Operations & Maintenance Co (NOMAC) signed an operations and maintenance agreement.
(Reporting by Yousef Saba; editing by David Evans)
((Yousef.Saba@thomsonreuters.com; +971562166204))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | A consortium of Sepco III, Power China and Abengoa ABG.MC is contracted for the engineering, procurement and construction of the plant. The desalination plant, Jubail-3A IWP, will use sea water reverse osmosis to yield a capacity of 600,000 cubic metres per day. "We take great pride in having broken the record for the lowest tariff for desalinated potable water, thrice in the last three years, including for the Jubail-3A IWP project," ACWA Chief Investment Officer Rajit Nanda said in the statement. | A consortium of Sepco III, Power China and Abengoa ABG.MC is contracted for the engineering, procurement and construction of the plant. DUBAI, Sept 7 (Reuters) - A consortium led by Saudi Arabian utility developer ACWA Power has signed financing agreements for a $650 million desalination project in the Saudi industrial city of Jubail. The plant is being financed through limited recourse ring-fenced project financing from Al Rajhi Bank 1120.SE, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank ADIB.AD, Riyad Bank 1010.SE and Mizuho 8411.T, ACWA said in a statement. | A consortium of Sepco III, Power China and Abengoa ABG.MC is contracted for the engineering, procurement and construction of the plant. DUBAI, Sept 7 (Reuters) - A consortium led by Saudi Arabian utility developer ACWA Power has signed financing agreements for a $650 million desalination project in the Saudi industrial city of Jubail. The plant is being financed through limited recourse ring-fenced project financing from Al Rajhi Bank 1120.SE, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank ADIB.AD, Riyad Bank 1010.SE and Mizuho 8411.T, ACWA said in a statement. | A consortium of Sepco III, Power China and Abengoa ABG.MC is contracted for the engineering, procurement and construction of the plant. The plant is being financed through limited recourse ring-fenced project financing from Al Rajhi Bank 1120.SE, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank ADIB.AD, Riyad Bank 1010.SE and Mizuho 8411.T, ACWA said in a statement. ACWA Power, in consortium with Gulf Investment Company (GIC) and Al Bawani Water and Power Company, was awarded the project earlier this year at a tariff of $0.41 per cubic metre. |
28750.0 | 2020-08-13 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive Group Reaches Analyst Target Price | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-group-reaches-analyst-target-price-2020-08-13 | nan | nan | In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $105.86, changing hands for $110.51/share. When a stock reaches the target an analyst has set, the analyst logically has two ways to react: downgrade on valuation, or, re-adjust their target price to a higher level. Analyst reaction may also depend on the fundamental business developments that may be responsible for driving the stock price higher — if things are looking up for the company, perhaps it is time for that target price to be raised.
There are 7 different analyst targets contributing to that average for Asbury Automotive Group Inc, but the average is just that — a mathematical average. There are analysts with lower targets than the average, including one looking for a price of $82.00. And then on the other side of the spectrum one analyst has a target as high as $115.00. The standard deviation is $11.653.
But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $105.86/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $105.86 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? Below is a table showing the current thinking of the analysts that cover Asbury Automotive Group Inc:
RECENT ABG ANALYST RATINGS BREAKDOWN
» Current 1 Month Ago 2 Month Ago 3 Month Ago
Strong buy ratings: 2 3 3 3
Buy ratings: 0 0 0 0
Hold ratings: 5 4 4 4
Sell ratings: 0 0 0 0
Strong sell ratings: 0 0 0 0
Average rating: 2.43 2.14 2.14 2.14
The average rating presented in the last row of the above table above is from 1 to 5 where 1 is Strong Buy and 5 is Strong Sell. This article used data provided by Zacks Investment Research via Quandl.com. Get the latest Zacks research report on ABG — FREE.
The Top 25 Broker Analyst Picks of the S&P 500 »
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $105.86, changing hands for $110.51/share. And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $105.86/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $105.86 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. | In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $105.86, changing hands for $110.51/share. But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $105.86/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $105.86 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? | And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $105.86/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $105.86 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $105.86, changing hands for $110.51/share. But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. | In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $105.86, changing hands for $110.51/share. But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $105.86/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $105.86 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? |
28751.0 | 2020-07-28 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive Group Inc (ABG) Q2 2020 Earnings Call Transcript | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-group-inc-abg-q2-2020-earnings-call-transcript-2020-07-28 | nan | nan | Image source: The Motley Fool.
Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG)
Q2 2020 Earnings Call
Jul 28, 2020, 10:00 a.m. ET
Contents:
Prepared Remarks
Questions and Answers
Call Participants
Prepared Remarks:
Operator
Good day, everyone, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Asbury Automotive Group Second Quarter 2020 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Mr. Matt Pettoni. Please go ahead, sir.
Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer
Thanks, operator, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Asbury Automotive Group's second quarter 2020earnings call Today's call is being recorded and will be available for replay later today. The press release detailing Asbury's second quarter results was issued earlier this morning and is posted on our website at asburyauto.com.
Participating with me today are David Hult, our President and Chief Executive Officer; PJ Guido, our Chief Financial Officer; and Dan Clara, our Senior Vice President of Operations. At the conclusion of our remarks, we will open the call up for questions, and I will be available later for any follow-up questions you might have.
Before we begin, I must remind you that the discussion during the call today is likely to contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements other than those, which are historical in nature, including those statements relating to the duration and contemplated impact of the COVID-2019 pandemic on our business and financial performance, as well as the financial projections and expectations about our products, market and growth.
All forward-looking statements are subject to significant uncertainties and actual results may differ materially from those suggested by the statement, including potential impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic on us, our industry and our customers, suppliers, vendors and business partners. For information regarding certain of the risks that may cause actual results to differ, please see our filings with the SEC from time to time, including our Form 10-K for the year ended December 2019, any subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our earnings release issued earlier today.
We expressly disclaim any responsibility to update forward-looking statements. In addition, certain non-GAAP financial measures as defined under SEC rules, may be discussed on this call. As required by applicable SEC rules, we provide reconciliations of any such non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures on our website.
It's my pleasure to hand the call over to our CEO, David Hult. David?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, Matt. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our second quarterearnings call We achieved record second quarter results despite a volatile and challenging environment. In the quarter where SAAR dropped 34% to 11.3 million and American sheltered at home, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we delivered record operating margin of 5.7%. Plus, through our cost control measures and the strength of our business model, we were able to achieve record low SG&A as a percentage of gross profit of 62.7% and an adjusted EPS of $2.52, up 6% over the prior year.
During the quarter, we saw our new and used volumes sequentially improved each week in May and June, with significantly higher profit per vehicle. We also saw our parts and service business rebound in June, ending the month flat in gross profit with the prior year. I'm extremely proud of our team mates for stepping up our pickup and delivery business, as well as their laser focus around keeping the dealership safe for our guests. Because of their hard work, we were able to deliver record results. In addition, the quarter proved the strength of the new vehicle franchise dealer model with significantly lower volume due to the macro environment. We were able to flex our cost structure down, rationalize inventory and improve margins to deliver these record results. Our strong performance is also the result of our pioneering omnichannel strategy we launched over four years ago.
In the second quarter, 20% of our guests chose to complete their used vehicle purchase online. While we are pleased with these results, we are focused on further building and refining our omnichannel tools to enhance the guest experience. More to come later this year.
We are also pleased that our business model and performance allowed us to navigate the current environment and reengage on the highly strategic Park Place acquisition, and a more flexible financing terms and more favorable pricing. We are on track to close the acquisition in late August. Looking forward, our main goals are to delever and continue to build out our omnichannel tools, while working toward becoming the most guest-centric automotive retailer.
Finally, I want to thank all of our teammates for their commitment during this pandemic. These results happen, because of your passion and perseverance, adapting to our new world. Thank you.
I will now hand the call over to Dan to discuss our operating performance. Dan?
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Thank you, David, and good morning, everyone. My remarks will pertain to our same-store performance compared to the second quarter of 2019. Looking at new vehicles. While SAAR for the quarter was at 11.3 million units or 34% below last year, we focus on retail SAAR, which was down 24% for the quarter. In this lower retail SAAR environment, new unit sales decreased 23%. Overall, our new gross profit per vehicle was up $436 per car or 30% from the prior year period. All segment margins were up significantly from the prior year period. At the end of June, our total new vehicle inventory was $474 million, and our day supply was 52, down 34 days from the prior year. These levels are low because of temporary OEM factory shutdowns. However, we expect the day supply to increase gradually through the summer selling season.
Turning to used vehicles. Our gross profit margin was 7.5%, up 30 basis points from the prior period, represents a gross profit per vehicle of $1,690. We focused on being opportunistic with our inventory and we were able to increase our used to new ratio by almost 1,000 basis points. The second aspect of our used car business is wholesale. We increased our wholesale gross profit over $4 million. Our used vehicle inventory ended June at a $125 million, which represents a 26-day supply, down 7 days from the prior year.
Turning to F&I. Our strong consistent and sustainable growth in F&I delivered an increase of $80 to $1,737 from the prior year quarter. In the second quarter, our front-end yield per vehicle increased $357 per car to an all-time record of $3,539.
Finally, turning to parts and service. Although our parts and service revenue decreased in the quarter, we were able to recover and were flat in the month of June. In addition, 41% of our customer appointments were scheduled from mobile and web devices. I would like to remind you that our parts and service gross profit margin was impacted by the decision we made to protect the income of our technicians during this pandemic, which cost approximately $5 million. I would like to take this opportunity to express appreciation to all our teammates in the field and our support center who continue to produce best-in-class performance.
I will now hand the call over to PJ to discuss our financial performance. PJ?
PJ Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Thank you, Dan, and good morning, everyone. I would like to provide some financial highlights for the quarter, which marked a great achievement for our company in an unprecedented and volatile macro environment. Overall, compared to the second quarter of last year, revenue decreased by 20% and gross profit decreased by 18%, driven by the impact of COVID-19. Gross margin expanded by 40 basis points to 16.8% compared to last year, driven by our proactive inventory management and focused on gross profit per unit.
Moving down the P&L, we saw SG&A as a percent of gross profit decreased by 530 basis points to 62.7% on expense reductions and efficiencies gained on personnel and advertising, as well as other cost-control measures instituted across the business. Although the operating environment remains uncertain in the back half of the year. We expect our SG&A as a percentage of gross profit to be somewhere in the mid to high-60s for the full-year 2020. Our actions to manage gross profit and control expense resulted in an adjusted operating margin increase of 90 basis points to 5.6%.
Adjusted EPS for the quarter increased by 6% versus the prior year period. Net income for the second quarter 2020 was adjusted for a legal settlement gain of $1.2 million or $0.05 per diluted share. Net income for the second quarter 2019 was adjusted for an $11.7 million gain on a store divestiture or $0.45 per diluted share and a $300,000 gain, or $0.01 per diluted share on the sale of real estate. Our effective tax rate was 25.2% for the second quarter of 2020 compared to 25.3% in the second quarter of 2019.
Floor plan interest expense for the quarter decreased by $6.4 million over the prior year quarter, driven primarily by the reduction in inventory and the decrease in the LIBOR rate. With respect to capital deployed, we spent approximately $10 million on store improvement and other investments for the quarter.
Our balance sheet remains in a very strong position and we ended the quarter with approximately $747 million of liquidity, comprised of $613 million in cash, $117 million available in floor plan offset accounts and $17 million available on our used vehicle line. In addition to strong liquidity, we also have unencumbered real estate with a fair market value of approximately $100 million.
At the end of the quarter, our net leverage ratio stood at 1.5 times, well below our target leverage of 3.0 times. This provided us with the capacity and the flexibility to acquire the Park Place stores. Although, we anticipate that leverage will increase next quarter as we closed on the Park Place acquisition, we believe the accretive nature of the deal combined with Asbury's organic growth and cash flow will allow us to proactively manage our debt portfolio and get back to our target leverage of 3 times within 18 months. As a result of our commitment to a strong and flexible balance sheet, our primary capital allocation focus for the next several quarters maybe deleveraging.
In closing, I would also like to thank our teams across the business who had worked tirelessly during this challenging time to ensure our long-term success. We will now turn the call over to the operator and take your questions. Operator?
Questions and Answers:
Operator
Thank you. [Operator Instructions] And we'll go first to Rick Nelson with Stephens.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens, Inc. -- Analyst
Hi, thanks. Good morning. Wanted to follow-up on inventory across the industry is quite lean that's evidenced with your days supply, especially in the new car side. Curious, how you see inventory normalizing the time frame for that. And the GPUs, how long you think you can maintain those high GPUs?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Good morning, Rick. This is David. Related to the newly, it varies dramatically by brand, but I would say, as we sit here today, we believe that it will really be September before we start to see a normalization of inventory. We're still we're starting to get vehicles in and we'll certainly get them in in August, but with the demand currently that's out there in the way the supplies coming in, I think it's mid September before it starts to normalize. On the used vehicle side, a little bit different and probably a little bit tougher to predict. I would tell you, and we normally don't give any guidance, but when we think about July and where we are. July is what June is as it relates to the margin and maybe better. Volume is probably maybe just a little bit less than June. We anticipate August to be the same as July and similar to June. It's very difficult with what's going on in the world with the pandemic and everything that get too far out making predictions, but we see July being strong and we see August being similar. September is a little bit unknown at this point.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens, Inc. -- Analyst
Got it. As a follow-up to that SG&A to gross profit, it was 55% in June. I know you're guiding mid to high 60s. But I'm curious if there's anything structural or increased spending plans that you guys have in mind that here over the near-term why that kind of 55% ratio didn't get sustained with -- especially with the high GPUs?
PJ Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yeah. Hi, Rick, it's PJ. So with regards to SG&A, I think we need to just reference and level set on the quarter as a whole. When the pandemic first hit, we're very quick to right size the business to align with the new environment that we saw going forward. So that action primarily on with regards to the head count and advertising set us up to operate in the current environment. And I think going forward, although, a lot of that is structural and we have gained efficiencies. We do expect expense. We don't see that as sustainable going forward. We do see expense coming back in as the environment normalizes and volume increases. So, again, to achieve a 62.7% SG&A in this environment or even in the mid-60s, which is still below historic is an achievement, but we do expect some expense to creep back in as things normalize.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens, Inc. -- Analyst
Okay. Got it. And finally, if I can ask on service and parts, nice improvement here sequentially in June. Curious your outlook there when you could you get back on track, do you think for the mid single-digit growth that we were used to seeing pre-pandemic?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. Yeah. This is David, Rick. I would -- when we look at our business, when we report numbers and we show customer pay I don't know many of our peers do. But you have to remember when we sell parts and service customer pay that includes collision. Collision is really what's taken the big hit for us and there's a delay in collision. So when April really shut down for sales and service, collision was actually OK and then collusion took their hit in May forward. With less people driving on the road there's been less accidents. So collision has been a little bit further behind.
Parts and service, I would say, kind of like June is similar in July with some growth in some areas, but we're still lagging in collision. And I would say collision is roughly about at this point 10% back of prior year. So when I talk about parts and service mid single-digit increase, I'm going to now flip a little bit and go just the parts and service and exclude collision. I would expect each month going forward, incremental increases. I can't really say what's going to happen with collision but specifically, parts and service, I expect it to go forward. The one unknown to us is what happens in the fall when flu season hits and the virus surge and that kind of thing. We are really unsure about the fall. But as we sit here today, we see incremental growth each week in parts and service.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens, Inc. -- Analyst
Okay. Great. If I could add just one more question. As it relates to the virus and the outbreak, we've seen you've got a lot of exposure to Florida. If you could comment time trends there since the recent outbreak?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
I would say again I think about the news and then I think about our business. What you hear on the news about Florida and Texas is horrible and it's horrific what's going on in the country. I will say we don't see it in our business. Florida still operates extremely well for us. I still hold to that concept. Americans you can always shelter them in place for so long. We're not seeing a material impact at all in our Florida business that actually is fairly healthy for us.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens, Inc. -- Analyst
Great. Thanks and good luck.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Next we'll go to John Murphy with Bank of America.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
Good morning, guys. I just want to ask a first question on consolidation in the industry, because there's obviously with the Park Place acquisition you've done, and some of the other groups getting more aggressive on acquisitions. I'm just -- as you look at this, some of the deals that are being done in the private market are far above the valuation that your stock is currently selling at. So I mean, obviously, you just did a very good attractive deal so we kind of understand that. But on the flip side, you had the potential for selling the business either to a large private group or another public valuation that might be more in tune with some of the private deals that are going on. I mean, is that something you would be open to, or the Board would have to consider if that came up?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
John, I -- that's -- it's not something we think about on a daily basis. I would tell you, I know there's a lot of vibe in the market about growth and how big people can get over the years in consolidation and national branding. We have to remember that this is a franchise business and that is dealer agreements with every single one of these brands and then this framework agreements on that. So until those documents materially change, I don't see the massive consolidation that you'd might be questioning.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
Okay. That's very helpful. I mean, you think that the framework agreements and even the franchise laws actually would prohibit somebody getting significantly above 2% of the national market or something in that range. Is that a fair statement roughly?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Well, I would -- it's unfair for me to say what everyone's framework rates. But I would tell you, once you start having multiple rooftops of any brand beyond your dealer agreement that exist, you have a framework agreement. And within those framework agreement, there are limitations and how many you can acquire in an annual season, so to speak, or period. So there is a lot to a framework agreement and what's involved. And for a company A to buy a company B of 40 plus stores overnight would take a significant amount of work with the manufacturers to make that happen and it would be a true test of some documentations that are out there.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
Got it. Okay. That's very helpful. And then just a second question around SG&A. Obviously the performance was up during the quarter. It sounds like you hold on to a decent amount of it, but you do expect some normalization there over time. As you look at the omnichannel efforts and as that is ramping up, I think you're saying you've done a lot of your sales online in the quarter particularly on used. I mean, is there an opportunity you stressed or leverage that omnichannel effort that the SG&A could structurally come down over time. I guess simply as SG&A dollars on a new or used sale much lower if you're doing it online?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Absolutely. There is no question about it. And we're very -- we are focused on that, the transaction online, not reserving a car, not holding a car, not processing a piece of the deal. We're very focused on the complete transaction. We quoted the number of 20% on pre-owned. We're proud of that. And that's not reserving a holding, that's transacting. And the 40% of our appointments online, it just shows what we've been working on over the years. We have more tools that we're looking forward to launch later in the second half of this year, so that we think will hopefully get us -- we believe it will get us to a hopefully a higher plateau. So very focused and keeping our heads down and just really focusing on getting better at what we do in more efficient at what we do. Our discipline on SG&A in the quarter showed. We're proud of that. Some of the cost that will lead back in the third quarter, some of our vendor partners that gave us discounts. They're not there now. So those costs that naturally going to come back in. But we're disciplined on keeping the head count where it is. We're disciplined on keeping our ad dollars down. I think we're one of the lowest in this space, if not, the lowest in this space. So I think we've shown efficiency. I think once we feel like we're at a point where we can really put the foot on the gas in the highway, then we'll chase volume a little bit. But we're right now we're trying to get more efficient in what we do.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
And omnichannel SG&A to gross and if you go online, I mean, is that something it could be as low as 50%, or is that just like too aggressive as to how far when the opportunity could be?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah, I'm smiling. I really couldn't touch that number. It would be unfair for me to say. It's more than fair to say that there is an opportunity overtime to lower SG&A with online transactions.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
Okay. And then just lastly, used vehicle pricing has been miraculously strong sort of defies a lot of the factors in the market except maybe one that was just this incredible underlying demand for travel utilities showing up in used as the new vehicles just aren't on the lot to sell. I'm just curious what your interpretation is of strong used vehicle pricing what it means to your business, because it seems like it's a keystone here that's undeniably strong. I'm just trying to understand how you think about that what that means?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah, again, I said as I think early in July, we had a perfect storm of event happening with a lot of things. And with the manufacturers shutting down and there is still demand out there to purchase cars and the average age of ownership is almost 12 years. You do have some pent-up demand. And there's a lot of pre-owned vehicles on the market. I'd say every quarter any company, what did you do right, what you get wrong. I'll tell you one of the things we got wrong in the quarter. Right now we're smart not to wholesale our cars and take any kind of loss when the market really dropped in March because we didn't think it was real. But in hindsight, we could have been more aggressive at buying more inventory and that's something we didn't do. We chose to stay conservative and just manage the growth. The business is still strong today in used. I anticipate August won't be any different. September is a natural slowdown after Labor Day in a normal year. I would call 2020 anything but normal. So it's really tough to predict what September comes, but there could be that natural slow in September.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
Okay, great. That's very helpful. Thank you very much.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
We'll go next to Ryan Sigdahl with Craig-Hallum Capital Group.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. Just as it relates to Park Place and digital, how do you think about allocating both financial and human resources toward the integration of Park Place versus digital capabilities as the industry rapidly shifts online?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
This is David, Ryan, and I'll address that. Yeah. I've been lucky in 34 years to work for a lot of great companies, a lot of great people and I have done a lot of acquisitions. And acquisitions are fun to do but integrating them is extremely difficult. This is going to be 1,700 employees, a lot of stores, a lot of revenue. I'll tell you what attracts us most of this deal besides the obvious are the people there, but it's also the systems that they have. You won't find a company what we haven't or I haven't seen it in my career, where we align so much operationally right down to the softwares that we use, both from DMSs to HR software. So we see this is a fairly easy integration, even though it's a large size one. We feel that their strength is delivering a high level of service and our strength is the digital side. We think we can learn a lot from them and they can learn from us on the digital side and we're very excited to get the acquisition done and start chipping away at that.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
That's helpful. One other one for me. So one of your dealer peers announced it's rolling out a national brand for its digital initiatives. Where do you guys ultimately see your positioning in digital? Is that with a unified Asbury brand? Is it to push that brand? How do you think about kind of a nationwide rollout there?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah, I would say, when you think about branding nationally, I got to go back to the dealers, the dealership -- dealer agreements and framework agreements. But I'm a small Mercedes dealer in any city. I have restrictions as to where I can market that vehicle and what I can do. We all have restrictions on where we can market our new vehicle sales service to some degree and CPO, where there are no restrictions are out now pre-owned sales. But I would tell you, Cox Automotive is pretty good on doing studies and everything else like that. And if you look at their 2020 car buyer journey study, on the pre-owned side, 87% of the people that purchased the used vehicle purchased it within 60 miles of where they live. And on the new car side, it was 93%. So the way we look at it is, we see brick-and-mortar as an expense and we see digital as a highway to do business and we feel like our omnichannel approach, we have enough facilities to facilitate the deliveries of the vehicles as well. So we look at unlimited potential through our rooftops. We think there are local branding names within the market have value. And we'll go after it. Just like our peers, just like on the private side, we also pre-owned cars all over the country. When people looking for certain cars, they go after them. But 87% of your business has done within a 6-mile radius and we still see that within our business as well. So we think there is high efficiency through online. We think the true savings in the SG&A as brick-and-mortar is not needed it, it's all online. And when you think -- when you can truly complete the transaction a 100% online and make it fast and transparent to the consumer, you're -- I can see how you're now likely to garner good results and acquire more business from doing that.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Great. That's it from me guys. Good luck.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Next we'll go to Armintas Sinkevicious with Morgan Stanley.
Armintas Sinkevicious -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Great. I appreciate the question. I noticed that your import GPU was up quite a bit here. Maybe you could talk about the environment here with regards to the luxury, domestic and import brands. And then also how incentives have been trending through the quarter and into July.
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Good morning. This is Dan. I'll take the other question. So -- yeah, we saw nice improvement across all segments from a luxury standpoint. I'll address that one first. Again that goes back to the supply and demand. We made the conscious decision to be smart and not just let cars -- retail cars that are hard to replace right now because of the OEM shutdowns and what have you. From an import standpoint, same as the similar situation that we experienced with luxury. We have seen the -- some OEMs of supportive with our factory incentives more than others and -- but in the grand scheme of things, I believe everybody was a very key player and a very good partner through the pandemic. And when you go down to the domestic, again, there were -- affected by the factory shutdowns, there was another domestic there prior to COVID also had another factory shutdown. So even more of a limitation when you come down to a day supply and again it goes down to the conscious decision that we made of holding to the product making good smart decisions in an environment where it is tough to replace the unit that you just retailed.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
The only thing I'd add to put color on that. One of our core principles is our partnership with our OEMs. We're a franchisee. We value them. Hopefully they value us as well and we want to know what's important to them and we want to execute on that. They supported us extremely well through the pandemic in so many ways and we're very thankful for that. I would tell you especially in the midline import as it relates to Asbury. It was a very much a conscious decision for us to really just focus on margin and not chase growth. And when you're in secondary markets we're not with most of our midline imports. But when you are you're naturally going to be higher on gross profit per unit when you're in metro markets a little bit more competitive. So, we're very pleased with our results for the midline import for the quarter, but it was a focus to not chase volume and really just focus on margin.
Armintas Sinkevicious -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Okay. And you mentioned about 20% of your sales involved the digital framework. How has that trended from pre-COVID to the openings, does that increase, decrease remain flat? What's been the trend there?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. Number moves around a little bit, but essentially pre-COVID, excuse me, it was around 10%. So, it jumped up to 20%.
Armintas Sinkevicious -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Okay. And has that been looking, since you've been able to sell cars in dealerships and people have been able to have more options than just delivery and curbside pickup, there's obviously restrictions there by jurisdiction?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. The number hasn't really moved yet. It certainly could at any point in time, but it hasn't yet.
Armintas Sinkevicious -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Okay. Great. Well, thank you for taking the questions.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Next we'll go to Rajat Gupta with J.P. Morgan.
Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Hi, good morning, everyone, and thanks for taking my questions. Just I had a follow-up on the omnichannel offering. You're talking at prepared remarks, I mean, how you're working to and adds that further. Can you give us a sense of what kind of steps you have in mind there, any bottlenecks that you think that you would want to improve on or just in specific parts of the offering that you will be more focused on going forward? And I have a follow-up.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure, Rajat. This is David. Yeah, when we launched the loan marketplace, we announced last year that we were the first to have it. And basically, you could apply online and you instantly got back from the large lenders with their logo what the approvals were and what the rates were. We didn't pre-announce it because it's a competitive space. I would tell you, in the second half of this year, we will launch tools that don't currently exist. No one has out there at this point in the automotive space certain elements of the transaction online. So there'll be more to come, but just because of competitive nature of our space, we don't want to talk about it yet. I anticipate things could change but I anticipate talking about it in October.
Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Got it. Got it. We look forward to that. And just on Park Place. I know it's not closed yet, but could you give us any sense from just the same-store metrics within that group how that has performed in the second quarter and what we're seeing here into July across the different business lines?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. Respectively, it's still privately held and really don't want to disclose too much of his personal information. But I guess the general statement I could make for the month of June, he's been in business a little bit over 33 years. It was his most profitable month he's ever had. Their stores are performing very well and holding up very well and it's certainly transitioning that way into July as well.
Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Got it. And you mentioned earlier or I think to Rick's question that July maybe saw a little bit of a slowing versus June in terms of volumes. Was that more of an industry dynamic, or is that more of a conscious decision on your part, because auction prices are so high, or just curious as to -- was that more of an unconscious decision might just to maybe hold off on sourcing expensive vehicles? Thanks.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. I would tell you it's a little bit of everything. First on the day supply is low. So naturally sales are going to slow a little bit with that. And then the number one source for most new car dealers for used vehicles as trade-in, so there's an offset there. To your point about buying cars right now, we're trying to realize, we're not just buying for a moment in time or a quarter, but it's overtime. And we don't -- we want to stay conservative understanding that at some point the market is going to move a little bit. So we're buying what we need. We're trying to be opportunistic. We're buying directly from consumers. We're doing a lot of equity mining as most dealer groups are I'm sure and trying to be opportunistic. But I think our approach right now, our mindset is how do we get our highest returns and that's our main focus now. How do we generate as much growth as we possibly can while keeping our expenses down to come out on the other side of this.
Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Got it. Great. That's super helpful. Thanks and good luck.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Next we'll go to Stephanie Benjamin with SunTrust.
Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust -- Analyst
Hi, good morning.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Hi, Stephanie.
PJ Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Hey, Stephanie.
Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust -- Analyst
Just to kind of circle up again on the digital initiatives. I wanted to hear maybe a color you've had about those customers that chose to purchase online or through the digital channel that 20%. How many of those customers chose the -- or roughly speaking chose the home delivery versus in-store pickup? Just curious what you're seeing from that trend?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. Stephanie, it's a great question. And like anything we launch, I'm always wrong. I anticipated a very high -- when we did this years ago a very high delivery rate at home for obvious reasons. It was a little bit more than expected in the beginning, but it quickly flipped. The majority of consumers are choosing to take delivery at the dealership. I'm guessing the reason is they want that relationship with the dealership on the parts and service side and want to meet people there. We certainly do home deliveries. I would say, we're doing more of the pickup and drop-off on service than we are deliveries on the actual transactions when they purchase a car. Naturally out-of-state purchases are certainly being transported by trucks. But local transactions that are done are -- mostly done at the dealership after they've purchased it online.
Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust -- Analyst
Got it. That's helpful. Thank you. And then also I wanted to touch on just F&I with your digital initiatives, so what you've seen from the adoption or penetration of really getting some of those additional warranty or service sales via, while still going through the digital platform, or is that an initiative that may be expanded as we look forward? Just any color there would be great. Thanks.
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Good morning Stephanie, this is Dan. So we've seen the team adapt pretty good to the new way of doing business with the digital transactions and at-home delivery. We have several -- the tools that we utilize afford us the ability to be able to further enhance the experience by being able to present the product in a digital aspect. And the team did a very good job adapting and we saw positive results from our consumers in this transaction, and therefore you can see the consistent and sustainable growth that we delivered in F&I.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
And I would add -- I would say if you truly analyze our online transaction tool, there's three key areas of what you call weakness or opportunity to be better. Those are the ones that we're focused on that we'll be launching. And one of them is related to F&I. We're lucky that our F&I numbers are holding up online as they do in the store. But in my personal opinion, our presentation of F&I products online can be a lot better than what it is.
Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust -- Analyst
Got it. And that's all I have. Thank you.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
We'll go next to Bret Jordan with Jefferies.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Good morning, guys.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Good morning.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
On the discussion of the customer pay impact and the collision softness. I think you mentioned you said it was at 10% back of prior year. Is that saying that collision is running at 90% of prior year levels, or it is running at 10% of prior year levels?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. It's -- and that number was for July. And it's -- we're running at 90% of prior year, so we're off 10%.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Okay. And what would have been the trend of improvement? I guess, what would June or May have been versus prior year?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. We had -- collision was backwards above 30%. Well, we're 70%, if you want to do it that way.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Okay. Another question I guess --
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Just to be clear, we were generating 70% of prior year.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Okay. And I guess you commented that Florida has been strong despite sort of COVID reoutbreak. Are there any markets that are outliers you talked about regional sequential improvement? Are there any particularly strong or weak markets in the recovery?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
No. I would say early on end of March beginning of April there was, I would say once you kind of hit that mid-April point, you've seen fairly consistent recovery everywhere. Colorado, we only have a couple of stores out there, but it's been extremely strong for us. And they had some tough shelter in place regulations early on and we were still amazed that the business that was coming out of there. So I think we certainly had our lumps along the way. And like a lot of our peers, I'm sure we had moments and times where we had stores physically closed for periods of time for a litany of different reasons, whether it be state regulated or a virus breakout, but it's just slowly coming back over time.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Okay. And then one last question, I guess with so many public players now focusing in the used car space and promising big growth. Do you see auction activity getting any less rational, or are bids becoming more competitive in that channel?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. And I would say, we don't know differently than our peers I'm sure. We constantly look at the competitive space of what people are doing, what people aren't. In the last 120 days some of those national brands were not acquiring cars from consumers. They shut that piece down for a period of time. I think our goal is slow sustainable growth. And we agree with Cox and that 87% of the people that purchased that preowned purchased it within 60 miles. We think we have a tremendous opportunity to grow our preowned business. I think our focus really right now is perfecting that online piece and we have not done that yet. And that's why we keep quoting the actual percentages. We're -- I don't think some others do. The reason we do that is to hold ourselves accountable to a number and really want to get better. But we believe our growth comes when we have a better tool and a world-class tool on the market and we can convince the consumers to transact online and that it's safe.
It's different when you think about buying a car online to buying something on Amazon. When you're buying something on Amazon you're not trading anything into them. And when you don't trade anything into them you don't own any money on it. So it's more complex when you're doing a vehicle transaction. And there's different pieces of that element that have to be thought through when completing that transaction online. But that's where our focus is in growing our business.
As far as national brands, we think within the markets we do business in we compete really well. We're a franchisee. Our partners are very important to us and we understand our restrictions around nationally marketing the new vehicle franchises. But on the preowned side, it's clearly an open market, but it's like anything else. If you're going to ship a 5,000-pound item 10 states. There's certainly a cost associated with that. And whatever that cost is, is there that much of a savings not to buy it locally. So there's just a lot of thought that has to be put into what that landscape looks like.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Great. Thank you.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
We'll go next to David Whiston with Morningstar.
David Whiston -- Morningstar Equity Reseach -- Analyst
Thanks. Good morning. First just an accounting question on the legal settlement gain. Was that for GAAP and SG&A or other income?
PJ Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
That was other income.
David Whiston -- Morningstar Equity Reseach -- Analyst
Okay. And earlier you talked about SG&A will be coming back. Opex volumes come back up. Is that just almost entirely from hiring more people and volumes come back up?
PJ Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
No, it will be a combination of -- as volume comes back you'll see there will be a little bit of pressure on overhead costs that's outside services, bank fees, T&E training, but you'll also see -- yeah, you could also see us again adjust headcount to match the environment. And then also on advertising we may look to deploy additional advertising dollars again depending on the volume of the business. So, it really just depends on what we see. And then also, there could be pressure on the denominator side, the gross profit side again as volumes increase back in.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
The one thing I'd add to that David, like our peers, when tragic events like this happens, you get to rightsize your business and focus on other things. We're very disciplined right now and not adding back headcount and would only do that if we saw a material difference in our business. We are very focused on production per employee and it's higher than it's been in a long time and that's part of our success right now too and we certainly want to keep it there. As we sit here in July and coming forward, we're still seeing good margin and anticipate strong results with very disciplined SG&A. But as you -- that forecast of mid-60s to upper 60s was full year. In the one element that none of us can predict is that fourth quarter and what could happen in the fourth quarter. But in the short term, we'll stay disciplined and take advantage of what the market is giving us right now.
David Whiston -- Morningstar Equity Reseach -- Analyst
Thanks. That's helpful. And then on used vehicles, there's an adverse supply shock in that space due to a collapse in new vehicle sales. So, used vehicle pricing has come up pretty rapidly after an initial collapse just like it did in '08 '09. But do you see that used vehicle pricing dynamic maybe moderating in the second half of this year, or is it not until '21?
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. That's a great question. I don't know the answer to that. I -- again, I think the fall will dictate if there's going to be a material change then or if it will weather through a little bit longer. I don't see anything changing in the next 60 -- 45 to 60 days. And I know that's not a great guidance or time period, but it's such an unusual period right now with so many different dynamics going on. It's very difficult to predict. July is every bit as strong as June in a lot of ways. As we sit here today and I know August is only a few days away, we anticipate August looking the same, but certainly that could change on a moment's notice as well.
David Whiston -- Morningstar Equity Reseach -- Analyst
Okay. Thanks guys.
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you. This concludes our discussion today. We appreciate your participation on the call. Look forward to speaking with you in October. Thank you.
Duration: 51 minutes
Call participants:
Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer
David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
PJ Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Rick Nelson -- Stephens, Inc. -- Analyst
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Armintas Sinkevicious -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust -- Analyst
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
David Whiston -- Morningstar Equity Reseach -- Analyst
More ABG analysis
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG) Q2 2020 Earnings Call Jul 28, 2020, 10:00 a.m. Duration: 51 minutes Call participants: Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations PJ Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Rick Nelson -- Stephens, Inc. -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Armintas Sinkevicious -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar Equity Reseach -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts {%sfr%} 10 stocks we like better than Asbury Automotive Group When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. We are also pleased that our business model and performance allowed us to navigate the current environment and reengage on the highly strategic Park Place acquisition, and a more flexible financing terms and more favorable pricing. | Duration: 51 minutes Call participants: Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations PJ Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Rick Nelson -- Stephens, Inc. -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Armintas Sinkevicious -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar Equity Reseach -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts {%sfr%} 10 stocks we like better than Asbury Automotive Group When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG) Q2 2020 Earnings Call Jul 28, 2020, 10:00 a.m. Participating with me today are David Hult, our President and Chief Executive Officer; PJ Guido, our Chief Financial Officer; and Dan Clara, our Senior Vice President of Operations. | Duration: 51 minutes Call participants: Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations PJ Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Rick Nelson -- Stephens, Inc. -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Armintas Sinkevicious -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar Equity Reseach -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts {%sfr%} 10 stocks we like better than Asbury Automotive Group When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG) Q2 2020 Earnings Call Jul 28, 2020, 10:00 a.m. Participating with me today are David Hult, our President and Chief Executive Officer; PJ Guido, our Chief Financial Officer; and Dan Clara, our Senior Vice President of Operations. | Duration: 51 minutes Call participants: Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer David W. Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations PJ Guido -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Rick Nelson -- Stephens, Inc. -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Armintas Sinkevicious -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar Equity Reseach -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts {%sfr%} 10 stocks we like better than Asbury Automotive Group When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG) Q2 2020 Earnings Call Jul 28, 2020, 10:00 a.m. I will say we don't see it in our business. |
28752.0 | 2020-07-24 00:00:00 UTC | Spain considering guaranteeing credit lines to renewables firm Abengoa - source | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/spain-considering-guaranteeing-credit-lines-to-renewables-firm-abengoa-source-2020-07-24 | nan | nan | By Jesús Aguado
MADRID, July 24 (Reuters) - The Spanish government is considering granting guarantees and credit lines to renewable energy and engineering firm Abengoa ABG.MC in a bid to keep the company afloat, a source with knowledge of the negotiations said.
Spanish state agency ICO will guarantee up to 70% of the 180 million euros that bank creditors including Bankia BKIA.MC and Santander SAN.MC are considering lending to the company, the source said.
ICO may also directly lend Abengoa 50 million euros, while an extra 20 million loan is being negotiated with the regional government of Andalusia. Abengoa declined to comment.
In mid-July, troubled Abengoa postponed until July 27 a final decision on a debt restructuring deal with creditors.
It warned that a lack of liquidity and guarantees was "severely" affecting its business, making its viability "very difficult" if the transaction is not closed in the short term.
A more than 50% jump in its share price to 0.0161 euros on July 14 led Spain's financial regulator CNMV to suspend trading, awaiting the outcome of Abengoa's negotiations with lenders.
A banking source involved in the talks confirmed that ICO was discussing guaranteeing part of bank's credit lines but did not say how much would be backed up by the state.
Bankia, Santander, the Economy Ministry and the Andalusian government all declined to comment.
The debt restructuring deal is focused on 250 million euros in short-term funding needs and 3.2 billion euros that Abengoa has owed to creditors and providers since 2016, another source familiar with the matter said.
In 2016, Abengoa avoided becoming Spain's largest ever corporate bankruptcy after striking a deal to refinance 9 billion euros of debt, handing creditors control of the company.
By end-2019, Abengoa's total debt was 5.95 billion euros, of which around 1.2 billion is debt considered up for sale and around 560 million belongs to project finance, according to company data.
That left corporate debt at 4.2 billion euros, it showed.
($1 = 0.8595 euros)
(Reporting by Jesús Aguado; Additional reporting by Emma Pinedo; Editing by Ingrid Melander and Jan Harvey)
((jesus.aguado@thomsonreuters.com; +34 91 585 8339; Reuters Messaging: Reuters Messaging: jesus.aguado.reuters.com@reuters.net))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | By Jesús Aguado MADRID, July 24 (Reuters) - The Spanish government is considering granting guarantees and credit lines to renewable energy and engineering firm Abengoa ABG.MC in a bid to keep the company afloat, a source with knowledge of the negotiations said. Spanish state agency ICO will guarantee up to 70% of the 180 million euros that bank creditors including Bankia BKIA.MC and Santander SAN.MC are considering lending to the company, the source said. A more than 50% jump in its share price to 0.0161 euros on July 14 led Spain's financial regulator CNMV to suspend trading, awaiting the outcome of Abengoa's negotiations with lenders. | By Jesús Aguado MADRID, July 24 (Reuters) - The Spanish government is considering granting guarantees and credit lines to renewable energy and engineering firm Abengoa ABG.MC in a bid to keep the company afloat, a source with knowledge of the negotiations said. Spanish state agency ICO will guarantee up to 70% of the 180 million euros that bank creditors including Bankia BKIA.MC and Santander SAN.MC are considering lending to the company, the source said. ($1 = 0.8595 euros) (Reporting by Jesús Aguado; Additional reporting by Emma Pinedo; Editing by Ingrid Melander and Jan Harvey) ((jesus.aguado@thomsonreuters.com; +34 91 585 8339; Reuters Messaging: Reuters Messaging: jesus.aguado.reuters.com@reuters.net)) The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | By Jesús Aguado MADRID, July 24 (Reuters) - The Spanish government is considering granting guarantees and credit lines to renewable energy and engineering firm Abengoa ABG.MC in a bid to keep the company afloat, a source with knowledge of the negotiations said. Spanish state agency ICO will guarantee up to 70% of the 180 million euros that bank creditors including Bankia BKIA.MC and Santander SAN.MC are considering lending to the company, the source said. The debt restructuring deal is focused on 250 million euros in short-term funding needs and 3.2 billion euros that Abengoa has owed to creditors and providers since 2016, another source familiar with the matter said. | By Jesús Aguado MADRID, July 24 (Reuters) - The Spanish government is considering granting guarantees and credit lines to renewable energy and engineering firm Abengoa ABG.MC in a bid to keep the company afloat, a source with knowledge of the negotiations said. Spanish state agency ICO will guarantee up to 70% of the 180 million euros that bank creditors including Bankia BKIA.MC and Santander SAN.MC are considering lending to the company, the source said. The debt restructuring deal is focused on 250 million euros in short-term funding needs and 3.2 billion euros that Abengoa has owed to creditors and providers since 2016, another source familiar with the matter said. |
28753.0 | 2020-07-14 00:00:00 UTC | Abengoa postpones final decision on debt deal until July 27 | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/abengoa-postpones-final-decision-on-debt-deal-until-july-27-2020-07-14 | nan | nan | By Jesús Aguado
MADRID, July 14 (Reuters) - Troubled Spanish renewables firm Abengoa ABG.MC said on Tuesday it was in advanced talks to secure a 250 million euro ($285 million) state-backed liquidity line and restructure part of its debt, but did not expect a final decision until July 27.
The announcement means the Seville-based engineering group will miss Tuesday's self-imposed deadline to reach an agreement with lenders that would allow it to stay afloat.
"The Board of Directors considers that, in the current circumstances, it must exhaust all available alternatives for the continuity of the group's business," Abengoa said in a statement.
Earlier on Tuesday, Spain's stock market regulator suspended trading in Abengoa shares ahead of the deadline. They were up 56% before their suspension at 0.0161 euros, but still down more than 99% since mid-2014, when they were worth almost 5 euros.
The advances included an agreement with suppliers, amendment of certain debt terms and the availability of guarantees of up to 300 million euros, said Abengoa. It said developments continued to "evolve favourably, having received relevant supports that are yet to be formalised".
Still, it warned that the lack of liquidity and guarantee lines was "severely affecting the business, making its viability very difficult if the transaction is not closed in the short term".
A source with knowledge of the negotiations had previously told Reuters that a group of Spanish and foreign banks, including Santander SAN.MC and Bankia BKIA.MC, were considering providing a lifeline of around 180 million euros.
The other 70 million euros would come from the Spanish state agency ICO and the regional government in Andalusia, the source said.
Bankia, Santander, the Economy Ministry and the Andalusian government all declined to comment.
In 2016, Abengoa avoided becoming Spain's largest-ever corporate bankruptcy after striking a deal to refinance 9 billion euros of debt, which handed creditors control of the company. ($1 = 0.8781 euros)
(Reporting by Jesus Aguado; additional reporting Isla Binnie, Emma Pinedo, Inti Landauro and Tomas Cobos; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Kevin Liffey)
((Inti.Landauro@thomsonreuters.com;))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | By Jesús Aguado MADRID, July 14 (Reuters) - Troubled Spanish renewables firm Abengoa ABG.MC said on Tuesday it was in advanced talks to secure a 250 million euro ($285 million) state-backed liquidity line and restructure part of its debt, but did not expect a final decision until July 27. Still, it warned that the lack of liquidity and guarantee lines was "severely affecting the business, making its viability very difficult if the transaction is not closed in the short term". A source with knowledge of the negotiations had previously told Reuters that a group of Spanish and foreign banks, including Santander SAN.MC and Bankia BKIA.MC, were considering providing a lifeline of around 180 million euros. | By Jesús Aguado MADRID, July 14 (Reuters) - Troubled Spanish renewables firm Abengoa ABG.MC said on Tuesday it was in advanced talks to secure a 250 million euro ($285 million) state-backed liquidity line and restructure part of its debt, but did not expect a final decision until July 27. "The Board of Directors considers that, in the current circumstances, it must exhaust all available alternatives for the continuity of the group's business," Abengoa said in a statement. A source with knowledge of the negotiations had previously told Reuters that a group of Spanish and foreign banks, including Santander SAN.MC and Bankia BKIA.MC, were considering providing a lifeline of around 180 million euros. | By Jesús Aguado MADRID, July 14 (Reuters) - Troubled Spanish renewables firm Abengoa ABG.MC said on Tuesday it was in advanced talks to secure a 250 million euro ($285 million) state-backed liquidity line and restructure part of its debt, but did not expect a final decision until July 27. The advances included an agreement with suppliers, amendment of certain debt terms and the availability of guarantees of up to 300 million euros, said Abengoa. A source with knowledge of the negotiations had previously told Reuters that a group of Spanish and foreign banks, including Santander SAN.MC and Bankia BKIA.MC, were considering providing a lifeline of around 180 million euros. | By Jesús Aguado MADRID, July 14 (Reuters) - Troubled Spanish renewables firm Abengoa ABG.MC said on Tuesday it was in advanced talks to secure a 250 million euro ($285 million) state-backed liquidity line and restructure part of its debt, but did not expect a final decision until July 27. The announcement means the Seville-based engineering group will miss Tuesday's self-imposed deadline to reach an agreement with lenders that would allow it to stay afloat. The advances included an agreement with suppliers, amendment of certain debt terms and the availability of guarantees of up to 300 million euros, said Abengoa. |
28754.0 | 2020-07-08 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive Group Breaks Above 200-Day Moving Average - Bullish for ABG | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-group-breaks-above-200-day-moving-average-bullish-for-abg-2020-07-08 | nan | nan | In trading on Wednesday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) crossed above their 200 day moving average of $87.71, changing hands as high as $91.29 per share. Asbury Automotive Group Inc shares are currently trading up about 6.3% on the day. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares, versus its 200 day moving average:
Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $39.36 per share, with $123.445 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $90.98.
Click here to find out which 9 other stocks recently crossed above their 200 day moving average »
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | In trading on Wednesday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) crossed above their 200 day moving average of $87.71, changing hands as high as $91.29 per share. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares, versus its 200 day moving average: Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $39.36 per share, with $123.445 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $90.98. Click here to find out which 9 other stocks recently crossed above their 200 day moving average » The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | In trading on Wednesday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) crossed above their 200 day moving average of $87.71, changing hands as high as $91.29 per share. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares, versus its 200 day moving average: Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $39.36 per share, with $123.445 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $90.98. Click here to find out which 9 other stocks recently crossed above their 200 day moving average » The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | In trading on Wednesday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) crossed above their 200 day moving average of $87.71, changing hands as high as $91.29 per share. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares, versus its 200 day moving average: Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $39.36 per share, with $123.445 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $90.98. Click here to find out which 9 other stocks recently crossed above their 200 day moving average » The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | In trading on Wednesday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) crossed above their 200 day moving average of $87.71, changing hands as high as $91.29 per share. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares, versus its 200 day moving average: Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $39.36 per share, with $123.445 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $90.98. Asbury Automotive Group Inc shares are currently trading up about 6.3% on the day. |
28755.0 | 2020-07-07 00:00:00 UTC | Consumer Sector Update for 07/07/2020: CCL, CLUB, ABG, XLP, XLY | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/consumer-sector-update-for-07-07-2020%3A-ccl-club-abg-xlp-xly-2020-07-07 | nan | nan | Consumer stocks were flat to lower premarket Tuesday. Shares of staples companies in the S&P 500 (XLP) were 0.12% lower, while consumer discretionary firms (XLY) were inactive in recent trading.
Carnival (CCL) was slipping by almost 2% after saying the deployment of its upcoming LNG-powered cruise ship, the Mardi Gras, will be delayed to Feb. 6, 2021 as part of an updated deployment plan resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Town Sports International (CLUB) was more than 2% lower after saying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its business raises "substantial" doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.
Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) was unchanged after announcing a deal to acquire some assets of Park Place Dealerships for $685 million of goodwill and about $50 million for parts, fixed assets, and leaseholds, excluding vehicle inventory.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) was unchanged after announcing a deal to acquire some assets of Park Place Dealerships for $685 million of goodwill and about $50 million for parts, fixed assets, and leaseholds, excluding vehicle inventory. Shares of staples companies in the S&P 500 (XLP) were 0.12% lower, while consumer discretionary firms (XLY) were inactive in recent trading. Town Sports International (CLUB) was more than 2% lower after saying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its business raises "substantial" doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) was unchanged after announcing a deal to acquire some assets of Park Place Dealerships for $685 million of goodwill and about $50 million for parts, fixed assets, and leaseholds, excluding vehicle inventory. Shares of staples companies in the S&P 500 (XLP) were 0.12% lower, while consumer discretionary firms (XLY) were inactive in recent trading. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) was unchanged after announcing a deal to acquire some assets of Park Place Dealerships for $685 million of goodwill and about $50 million for parts, fixed assets, and leaseholds, excluding vehicle inventory. Shares of staples companies in the S&P 500 (XLP) were 0.12% lower, while consumer discretionary firms (XLY) were inactive in recent trading. Town Sports International (CLUB) was more than 2% lower after saying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its business raises "substantial" doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) was unchanged after announcing a deal to acquire some assets of Park Place Dealerships for $685 million of goodwill and about $50 million for parts, fixed assets, and leaseholds, excluding vehicle inventory. Consumer stocks were flat to lower premarket Tuesday. Shares of staples companies in the S&P 500 (XLP) were 0.12% lower, while consumer discretionary firms (XLY) were inactive in recent trading. |
28756.0 | 2020-07-07 00:00:00 UTC | BUZZ-U.S. STOCKS ON THE MOVE-Airlines, Vivint Solar, Match Group, Shake Shack | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/buzz-u.s.-stocks-on-the-move-airlines-vivint-solar-match-group-shake-shack-2020-07-07 | nan | nan | Eikon search string for individual stock moves: STXBZ
The Day Ahead newsletter: http://tmsnrt.rs/2ggOmBi
The Morning News Call newsletter: http://tmsnrt.rs/2fwPLTh
Wall Street's major indexes slipped on Tuesday following the benchmark S&P 500's longest streak of gains this year as investors worried about the tens of thousands of new coronavirus cases nationwide. .N
At 11:03 ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was down 0.66% at 26,112.76. The S&P 500 .SPX was down 0.30% at 3,170.16 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 0.29% at 10,464.113. The top three S&P 500 .PG.INX percentage gainers: ** Rollin Inc , up 6.1% ** Air Products and Chemicals Inc , up 4.1% ** Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc , up 4.1% The top three S&P 500 .PL.INX percentage losers: ** United Airlines Holdings Inc , down 6.6% ** American Airlines Group Inc , down 6.1% ** TechnipFMC , down 4.9% The top three NYSE .PG.N percentage gainers: ** Annovis Bio Inc , up 93.7% ** Vivint Solar Inc , up 36.2% ** Maxlinear Inc , up 13.7% The top three NYSE .PL.N percentage losers: ** Micro Focus International Plc , down 19% ** MV Oil Trust , down 8.9%
** Daqo New Energy Corp DQ.N, down 8.6% The top two Nasdaq .PG.O percentage gainers: ** Corvus Pharmaceuticals Inc , up 144.5% ** Hepion Pharmaceuticals Inc , up 32.6% The top three Nasdaq .PL.O percentage losers: ** Evolus Inc , down 31.4% ** Broadway Financial Corp , down 26.7% ** Sino-Global Shipping America Ltd , down 26.2%
** Endo International Plc ENDP.O: up 5.9% BUZZ-Jumps as FDA approves injectable for cellulite ** Novavax Inc NVAX.O: up 27.7% BUZZ-Jumps on $1.6 bln U.S. govt award for potential COVID-19 vaccine ** Remark Holdings Inc MARK.O: down 24.7% BUZZ-Falls as revenue hit by project completion snags in China ** Vivint Solar VSLR.N: up 36.2% BUZZ-Blackstone-backed Vivint Solar powers up on $1.46 bln Sunrun deal ** Activision Blizzard ATVI.O: up 1.9% BUZZ-Piper Sandler raises PT on growth prospects ** Fuel Tech Inc FTEK.O: up 30.6% BUZZ-Jumps after co wins orders worth $2.2 mln ** Cellectis CLLS.O: down 15.9% BUZZ-Falls as FDA pauses cancer drug trial after patient death ** Alexandria Real Estate Equities ARE.N: down 1.8% BUZZ-Dips as medical properties REIT prices upsized stock deal ** Regeneron REGN.O: up 3.6% BUZZ-Rises on $450 mln U.S. govt contract for COVID-19 therapy ** Match Group MTCH.O: down 1.6% BUZZ-Match Group: Rises as JPM assumes coverage with 'neutral' rating ** MV Oil Trust MVO.N: down 8.9% BUZZ-Slips after scrapping Q2 distribution ** Evolus EOLS.O: down 31.4% BUZZ-Drops on U.S. trade commission's initial ruling in Allergan and Medytox case ** Otonomy Inc OTIC.O: up 12.9% BUZZ-Jumps as ear disorder drug trial meets goals ** Corvus CRVS.O: up 144.5% BUZZ-Corvus surges on starting clinical trials for COVID-19 therapy ** Rollins Inc ROL.N: up 6.1% BUZZ-Rises on expectation of higher quarterly sales
** Sino-Global Shipping America SINO.O: down 26.2%
BUZZ-Plunges on steep fall in Q3 revenue ** Livongo Health LVGO.O: up 20.5%
BUZZ-Jumps after raising Q2 rev outlook ** Shake Shack SHAK.N: down 4.9%
BUZZ-Slips on revenue miss as protests, store closures hit ** United Airlines UAL.O: down 6.6% ** American Airlines AAL.O: down 6.0%
BUZZ-U.S. airlines lose momentum on report United warns of booking declines ** Future FinTech FTFT.O: up 4.3%
BUZZ-Rises on Q1 profit, higher revenue ** Diffusion Pharma DFFN.O: up 5.4%
BUZZ-Diffusion Pharma seeks FDA approval for COVID-19 treatment trial, shares up ** Asbury Automotive ABG.N: up 4.9%
BUZZ-Rises after Park Place Dealerships deal back on
(Compiled by Bharath Manjesh in Bengaluru)
((Bharath.ManjeshR@thomsonreuters.com; outside U.S. +91 80 6749 2703;))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | The top three S&P 500 .PG.INX percentage gainers: ** Rollin Inc , up 6.1% ** Air Products and Chemicals Inc , up 4.1% ** Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc , up 4.1% The top three S&P 500 .PL.INX percentage losers: ** United Airlines Holdings Inc , down 6.6% ** American Airlines Group Inc , down 6.1% ** TechnipFMC , down 4.9% The top three NYSE .PG.N percentage gainers: ** Annovis Bio Inc , up 93.7% ** Vivint Solar Inc , up 36.2% ** Maxlinear Inc , up 13.7% The top three NYSE .PL.N percentage losers: ** Micro Focus International Plc , down 19% ** MV Oil Trust , down 8.9% ** Daqo New Energy Corp DQ.N, down 8.6% The top two Nasdaq .PG.O percentage gainers: ** Corvus Pharmaceuticals Inc , up 144.5% ** Hepion Pharmaceuticals Inc , up 32.6% The top three Nasdaq .PL.O percentage losers: ** Evolus Inc , down 31.4% ** Broadway Financial Corp , down 26.7% ** Sino-Global Shipping America Ltd , down 26.2% ** Endo International Plc ENDP.O: up 5.9% BUZZ-Jumps as FDA approves injectable for cellulite ** Novavax Inc NVAX.O: up 27.7% BUZZ-Jumps on $1.6 bln U.S. govt award for potential COVID-19 vaccine ** Remark Holdings Inc MARK.O: down 24.7% BUZZ-Falls as revenue hit by project completion snags in China ** Vivint Solar VSLR.N: up 36.2% BUZZ-Blackstone-backed Vivint Solar powers up on $1.46 bln Sunrun deal ** Activision Blizzard ATVI.O: up 1.9% BUZZ-Piper Sandler raises PT on growth prospects ** Fuel Tech Inc FTEK.O: up 30.6% BUZZ-Jumps after co wins orders worth $2.2 mln ** Cellectis CLLS.O: down 15.9% BUZZ-Falls as FDA pauses cancer drug trial after patient death ** Alexandria Real Estate Equities ARE.N: down 1.8% BUZZ-Dips as medical properties REIT prices upsized stock deal ** Regeneron REGN.O: up 3.6% BUZZ-Rises on $450 mln U.S. govt contract for COVID-19 therapy ** Match Group MTCH.O: down 1.6% BUZZ-Match Group: Rises as JPM assumes coverage with 'neutral' rating ** MV Oil Trust MVO.N: down 8.9% BUZZ-Slips after scrapping Q2 distribution ** Evolus EOLS.O: down 31.4% BUZZ-Drops on U.S. trade commission's initial ruling in Allergan and Medytox case ** Otonomy Inc OTIC.O: up 12.9% BUZZ-Jumps as ear disorder drug trial meets goals ** Corvus CRVS.O: up 144.5% BUZZ-Corvus surges on starting clinical trials for COVID-19 therapy ** Rollins Inc ROL.N: up 6.1% BUZZ-Rises on expectation of higher quarterly sales ** Sino-Global Shipping America SINO.O: down 26.2% BUZZ-Plunges on steep fall in Q3 revenue ** Livongo Health LVGO.O: up 20.5% BUZZ-Jumps after raising Q2 rev outlook ** Shake Shack SHAK.N: down 4.9% BUZZ-Slips on revenue miss as protests, store closures hit ** United Airlines UAL.O: down 6.6% ** American Airlines AAL.O: down 6.0% BUZZ-U.S. airlines lose momentum on report United warns of booking declines ** Future FinTech FTFT.O: up 4.3% BUZZ-Rises on Q1 profit, higher revenue ** Diffusion Pharma DFFN.O: up 5.4% BUZZ-Diffusion Pharma seeks FDA approval for COVID-19 treatment trial, shares up ** Asbury Automotive ABG.N: up 4.9% BUZZ-Rises after Park Place Dealerships deal back on (Compiled by Bharath Manjesh in Bengaluru) ((Bharath.ManjeshR@thomsonreuters.com; outside U.S. +91 80 6749 2703;)) The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. Eikon search string for individual stock moves: STXBZ The Day Ahead newsletter: http://tmsnrt.rs/2ggOmBi The Morning News Call newsletter: http://tmsnrt.rs/2fwPLTh Wall Street's major indexes slipped on Tuesday following the benchmark S&P 500's longest streak of gains this year as investors worried about the tens of thousands of new coronavirus cases nationwide. .N At 11:03 ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was down 0.66% at 26,112.76. | The top three S&P 500 .PG.INX percentage gainers: ** Rollin Inc , up 6.1% ** Air Products and Chemicals Inc , up 4.1% ** Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc , up 4.1% The top three S&P 500 .PL.INX percentage losers: ** United Airlines Holdings Inc , down 6.6% ** American Airlines Group Inc , down 6.1% ** TechnipFMC , down 4.9% The top three NYSE .PG.N percentage gainers: ** Annovis Bio Inc , up 93.7% ** Vivint Solar Inc , up 36.2% ** Maxlinear Inc , up 13.7% The top three NYSE .PL.N percentage losers: ** Micro Focus International Plc , down 19% ** MV Oil Trust , down 8.9% ** Daqo New Energy Corp DQ.N, down 8.6% The top two Nasdaq .PG.O percentage gainers: ** Corvus Pharmaceuticals Inc , up 144.5% ** Hepion Pharmaceuticals Inc , up 32.6% The top three Nasdaq .PL.O percentage losers: ** Evolus Inc , down 31.4% ** Broadway Financial Corp , down 26.7% ** Sino-Global Shipping America Ltd , down 26.2% ** Endo International Plc ENDP.O: up 5.9% BUZZ-Jumps as FDA approves injectable for cellulite ** Novavax Inc NVAX.O: up 27.7% BUZZ-Jumps on $1.6 bln U.S. govt award for potential COVID-19 vaccine ** Remark Holdings Inc MARK.O: down 24.7% BUZZ-Falls as revenue hit by project completion snags in China ** Vivint Solar VSLR.N: up 36.2% BUZZ-Blackstone-backed Vivint Solar powers up on $1.46 bln Sunrun deal ** Activision Blizzard ATVI.O: up 1.9% BUZZ-Piper Sandler raises PT on growth prospects ** Fuel Tech Inc FTEK.O: up 30.6% BUZZ-Jumps after co wins orders worth $2.2 mln ** Cellectis CLLS.O: down 15.9% BUZZ-Falls as FDA pauses cancer drug trial after patient death ** Alexandria Real Estate Equities ARE.N: down 1.8% BUZZ-Dips as medical properties REIT prices upsized stock deal ** Regeneron REGN.O: up 3.6% BUZZ-Rises on $450 mln U.S. govt contract for COVID-19 therapy ** Match Group MTCH.O: down 1.6% BUZZ-Match Group: Rises as JPM assumes coverage with 'neutral' rating ** MV Oil Trust MVO.N: down 8.9% BUZZ-Slips after scrapping Q2 distribution ** Evolus EOLS.O: down 31.4% BUZZ-Drops on U.S. trade commission's initial ruling in Allergan and Medytox case ** Otonomy Inc OTIC.O: up 12.9% BUZZ-Jumps as ear disorder drug trial meets goals ** Corvus CRVS.O: up 144.5% BUZZ-Corvus surges on starting clinical trials for COVID-19 therapy ** Rollins Inc ROL.N: up 6.1% BUZZ-Rises on expectation of higher quarterly sales ** Sino-Global Shipping America SINO.O: down 26.2% BUZZ-Plunges on steep fall in Q3 revenue ** Livongo Health LVGO.O: up 20.5% BUZZ-Jumps after raising Q2 rev outlook ** Shake Shack SHAK.N: down 4.9% BUZZ-Slips on revenue miss as protests, store closures hit ** United Airlines UAL.O: down 6.6% ** American Airlines AAL.O: down 6.0% BUZZ-U.S. airlines lose momentum on report United warns of booking declines ** Future FinTech FTFT.O: up 4.3% BUZZ-Rises on Q1 profit, higher revenue ** Diffusion Pharma DFFN.O: up 5.4% BUZZ-Diffusion Pharma seeks FDA approval for COVID-19 treatment trial, shares up ** Asbury Automotive ABG.N: up 4.9% BUZZ-Rises after Park Place Dealerships deal back on (Compiled by Bharath Manjesh in Bengaluru) ((Bharath.ManjeshR@thomsonreuters.com; outside U.S. +91 80 6749 2703;)) The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. Eikon search string for individual stock moves: STXBZ The Day Ahead newsletter: http://tmsnrt.rs/2ggOmBi The Morning News Call newsletter: http://tmsnrt.rs/2fwPLTh Wall Street's major indexes slipped on Tuesday following the benchmark S&P 500's longest streak of gains this year as investors worried about the tens of thousands of new coronavirus cases nationwide. .N At 11:03 ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was down 0.66% at 26,112.76. | The top three S&P 500 .PG.INX percentage gainers: ** Rollin Inc , up 6.1% ** Air Products and Chemicals Inc , up 4.1% ** Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc , up 4.1% The top three S&P 500 .PL.INX percentage losers: ** United Airlines Holdings Inc , down 6.6% ** American Airlines Group Inc , down 6.1% ** TechnipFMC , down 4.9% The top three NYSE .PG.N percentage gainers: ** Annovis Bio Inc , up 93.7% ** Vivint Solar Inc , up 36.2% ** Maxlinear Inc , up 13.7% The top three NYSE .PL.N percentage losers: ** Micro Focus International Plc , down 19% ** MV Oil Trust , down 8.9% ** Daqo New Energy Corp DQ.N, down 8.6% The top two Nasdaq .PG.O percentage gainers: ** Corvus Pharmaceuticals Inc , up 144.5% ** Hepion Pharmaceuticals Inc , up 32.6% The top three Nasdaq .PL.O percentage losers: ** Evolus Inc , down 31.4% ** Broadway Financial Corp , down 26.7% ** Sino-Global Shipping America Ltd , down 26.2% ** Endo International Plc ENDP.O: up 5.9% BUZZ-Jumps as FDA approves injectable for cellulite ** Novavax Inc NVAX.O: up 27.7% BUZZ-Jumps on $1.6 bln U.S. govt award for potential COVID-19 vaccine ** Remark Holdings Inc MARK.O: down 24.7% BUZZ-Falls as revenue hit by project completion snags in China ** Vivint Solar VSLR.N: up 36.2% BUZZ-Blackstone-backed Vivint Solar powers up on $1.46 bln Sunrun deal ** Activision Blizzard ATVI.O: up 1.9% BUZZ-Piper Sandler raises PT on growth prospects ** Fuel Tech Inc FTEK.O: up 30.6% BUZZ-Jumps after co wins orders worth $2.2 mln ** Cellectis CLLS.O: down 15.9% BUZZ-Falls as FDA pauses cancer drug trial after patient death ** Alexandria Real Estate Equities ARE.N: down 1.8% BUZZ-Dips as medical properties REIT prices upsized stock deal ** Regeneron REGN.O: up 3.6% BUZZ-Rises on $450 mln U.S. govt contract for COVID-19 therapy ** Match Group MTCH.O: down 1.6% BUZZ-Match Group: Rises as JPM assumes coverage with 'neutral' rating ** MV Oil Trust MVO.N: down 8.9% BUZZ-Slips after scrapping Q2 distribution ** Evolus EOLS.O: down 31.4% BUZZ-Drops on U.S. trade commission's initial ruling in Allergan and Medytox case ** Otonomy Inc OTIC.O: up 12.9% BUZZ-Jumps as ear disorder drug trial meets goals ** Corvus CRVS.O: up 144.5% BUZZ-Corvus surges on starting clinical trials for COVID-19 therapy ** Rollins Inc ROL.N: up 6.1% BUZZ-Rises on expectation of higher quarterly sales ** Sino-Global Shipping America SINO.O: down 26.2% BUZZ-Plunges on steep fall in Q3 revenue ** Livongo Health LVGO.O: up 20.5% BUZZ-Jumps after raising Q2 rev outlook ** Shake Shack SHAK.N: down 4.9% BUZZ-Slips on revenue miss as protests, store closures hit ** United Airlines UAL.O: down 6.6% ** American Airlines AAL.O: down 6.0% BUZZ-U.S. airlines lose momentum on report United warns of booking declines ** Future FinTech FTFT.O: up 4.3% BUZZ-Rises on Q1 profit, higher revenue ** Diffusion Pharma DFFN.O: up 5.4% BUZZ-Diffusion Pharma seeks FDA approval for COVID-19 treatment trial, shares up ** Asbury Automotive ABG.N: up 4.9% BUZZ-Rises after Park Place Dealerships deal back on (Compiled by Bharath Manjesh in Bengaluru) ((Bharath.ManjeshR@thomsonreuters.com; outside U.S. +91 80 6749 2703;)) The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. Eikon search string for individual stock moves: STXBZ The Day Ahead newsletter: http://tmsnrt.rs/2ggOmBi The Morning News Call newsletter: http://tmsnrt.rs/2fwPLTh Wall Street's major indexes slipped on Tuesday following the benchmark S&P 500's longest streak of gains this year as investors worried about the tens of thousands of new coronavirus cases nationwide. .N At 11:03 ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was down 0.66% at 26,112.76. | The top three S&P 500 .PG.INX percentage gainers: ** Rollin Inc , up 6.1% ** Air Products and Chemicals Inc , up 4.1% ** Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc , up 4.1% The top three S&P 500 .PL.INX percentage losers: ** United Airlines Holdings Inc , down 6.6% ** American Airlines Group Inc , down 6.1% ** TechnipFMC , down 4.9% The top three NYSE .PG.N percentage gainers: ** Annovis Bio Inc , up 93.7% ** Vivint Solar Inc , up 36.2% ** Maxlinear Inc , up 13.7% The top three NYSE .PL.N percentage losers: ** Micro Focus International Plc , down 19% ** MV Oil Trust , down 8.9% ** Daqo New Energy Corp DQ.N, down 8.6% The top two Nasdaq .PG.O percentage gainers: ** Corvus Pharmaceuticals Inc , up 144.5% ** Hepion Pharmaceuticals Inc , up 32.6% The top three Nasdaq .PL.O percentage losers: ** Evolus Inc , down 31.4% ** Broadway Financial Corp , down 26.7% ** Sino-Global Shipping America Ltd , down 26.2% ** Endo International Plc ENDP.O: up 5.9% BUZZ-Jumps as FDA approves injectable for cellulite ** Novavax Inc NVAX.O: up 27.7% BUZZ-Jumps on $1.6 bln U.S. govt award for potential COVID-19 vaccine ** Remark Holdings Inc MARK.O: down 24.7% BUZZ-Falls as revenue hit by project completion snags in China ** Vivint Solar VSLR.N: up 36.2% BUZZ-Blackstone-backed Vivint Solar powers up on $1.46 bln Sunrun deal ** Activision Blizzard ATVI.O: up 1.9% BUZZ-Piper Sandler raises PT on growth prospects ** Fuel Tech Inc FTEK.O: up 30.6% BUZZ-Jumps after co wins orders worth $2.2 mln ** Cellectis CLLS.O: down 15.9% BUZZ-Falls as FDA pauses cancer drug trial after patient death ** Alexandria Real Estate Equities ARE.N: down 1.8% BUZZ-Dips as medical properties REIT prices upsized stock deal ** Regeneron REGN.O: up 3.6% BUZZ-Rises on $450 mln U.S. govt contract for COVID-19 therapy ** Match Group MTCH.O: down 1.6% BUZZ-Match Group: Rises as JPM assumes coverage with 'neutral' rating ** MV Oil Trust MVO.N: down 8.9% BUZZ-Slips after scrapping Q2 distribution ** Evolus EOLS.O: down 31.4% BUZZ-Drops on U.S. trade commission's initial ruling in Allergan and Medytox case ** Otonomy Inc OTIC.O: up 12.9% BUZZ-Jumps as ear disorder drug trial meets goals ** Corvus CRVS.O: up 144.5% BUZZ-Corvus surges on starting clinical trials for COVID-19 therapy ** Rollins Inc ROL.N: up 6.1% BUZZ-Rises on expectation of higher quarterly sales ** Sino-Global Shipping America SINO.O: down 26.2% BUZZ-Plunges on steep fall in Q3 revenue ** Livongo Health LVGO.O: up 20.5% BUZZ-Jumps after raising Q2 rev outlook ** Shake Shack SHAK.N: down 4.9% BUZZ-Slips on revenue miss as protests, store closures hit ** United Airlines UAL.O: down 6.6% ** American Airlines AAL.O: down 6.0% BUZZ-U.S. airlines lose momentum on report United warns of booking declines ** Future FinTech FTFT.O: up 4.3% BUZZ-Rises on Q1 profit, higher revenue ** Diffusion Pharma DFFN.O: up 5.4% BUZZ-Diffusion Pharma seeks FDA approval for COVID-19 treatment trial, shares up ** Asbury Automotive ABG.N: up 4.9% BUZZ-Rises after Park Place Dealerships deal back on (Compiled by Bharath Manjesh in Bengaluru) ((Bharath.ManjeshR@thomsonreuters.com; outside U.S. +91 80 6749 2703;)) The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. Eikon search string for individual stock moves: STXBZ The Day Ahead newsletter: http://tmsnrt.rs/2ggOmBi The Morning News Call newsletter: http://tmsnrt.rs/2fwPLTh Wall Street's major indexes slipped on Tuesday following the benchmark S&P 500's longest streak of gains this year as investors worried about the tens of thousands of new coronavirus cases nationwide. .N At 11:03 ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was down 0.66% at 26,112.76. |
28757.0 | 2020-07-07 00:00:00 UTC | Stock Alert: Asbury Automotive Ascends 7% | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/stock-alert%3A-asbury-automotive-ascends-7-2020-07-07 | nan | nan | (RTTNews) - Shares of automotive retail and service company Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) are rising more than 7% Tuesday morning on the news of its decision to acquire certain assets of Park Place Dealerships, one of the country's largest luxury dealer groups. The deal, which is expected close by end of August, is expected to add to Asbury's 2021 earnings, and also approximately $1.7 billion to its annual revenues.
The consideration comprises $685 million of goodwill and about $50 million for parts, fixed assets, and leaseholds, excluding vehicle inventory.
Asbury Automotive's new and used volume improved in May and June with higher profit per vehicle and Parts and Service business also improved in June as the economy gradually opens-up, the company said. This has helped to move forward with the acquisition which it had kept on hold in March due to lack of visibility around COVID-19.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | (RTTNews) - Shares of automotive retail and service company Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) are rising more than 7% Tuesday morning on the news of its decision to acquire certain assets of Park Place Dealerships, one of the country's largest luxury dealer groups. Asbury Automotive's new and used volume improved in May and June with higher profit per vehicle and Parts and Service business also improved in June as the economy gradually opens-up, the company said. This has helped to move forward with the acquisition which it had kept on hold in March due to lack of visibility around COVID-19. | (RTTNews) - Shares of automotive retail and service company Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) are rising more than 7% Tuesday morning on the news of its decision to acquire certain assets of Park Place Dealerships, one of the country's largest luxury dealer groups. The consideration comprises $685 million of goodwill and about $50 million for parts, fixed assets, and leaseholds, excluding vehicle inventory. Asbury Automotive's new and used volume improved in May and June with higher profit per vehicle and Parts and Service business also improved in June as the economy gradually opens-up, the company said. | (RTTNews) - Shares of automotive retail and service company Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) are rising more than 7% Tuesday morning on the news of its decision to acquire certain assets of Park Place Dealerships, one of the country's largest luxury dealer groups. Asbury Automotive's new and used volume improved in May and June with higher profit per vehicle and Parts and Service business also improved in June as the economy gradually opens-up, the company said. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | (RTTNews) - Shares of automotive retail and service company Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) are rising more than 7% Tuesday morning on the news of its decision to acquire certain assets of Park Place Dealerships, one of the country's largest luxury dealer groups. The deal, which is expected close by end of August, is expected to add to Asbury's 2021 earnings, and also approximately $1.7 billion to its annual revenues. The consideration comprises $685 million of goodwill and about $50 million for parts, fixed assets, and leaseholds, excluding vehicle inventory. |
28758.0 | 2020-05-30 00:00:00 UTC | Private equity firm IG4 buys two Brazilian hospitals amid COVID pandemic | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/private-equity-firm-ig4-buys-two-brazilian-hospitals-amid-covid-pandemic-2020-05-30 | nan | nan | By Tatiana Bautzer
SAO PAULO, May 30 (Reuters) - Brazilian private equity firm IG4 has spent 200 million reais ($38 million) on two recent deals to acquire hospitals through its recently formed OPY Health unit amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Both hospitals, one in the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte in the country's southeast which OPY bought in March and another one in the Amazonian city of Manaus whose purchase was finalized on Friday, are part of Brazil's public health system serving low-income members of the population.
The former was purchased from Brazilian construction conglomerate Andrade Gutierrez and the latter from Spain's Abengoa SA ABG.MC. Both sellers are restructuring debt.
OPY is in talks to acquire other six Brazilian hospitals, the sources added, asking for anonymity to disclose private talks. At least two more deals may be announced this year, the sources added.
The hospital in Belo Horizonte has 440 beds and the one in Manaus, 380 beds. The latter were recently converted into ICU units when the city's healthcare system teetered on the verge of collapse as it suffered from one of the country's worst outbreaks of the virus. The private equity firm is planning to expand the number of beds in both hospitals.
The hospitals represent first investments of the $250 million fund focused in Latin America raised by IG4 last March, mainly from European investors.
The two IG4 Brazilian hospitals will have average revenue of 220 million reais combined, paid by Brazil's Ministry of Health. Their EBITDA margin is close to 50%, according to the sources.
OPY Health follows a model common in the UK and Canada, where private companies own and manage hospitals serving public health services. In the UK, the largest companies are listed, such as Primary Health Properties Plc PHP.L.
High margins in private Brazilian hospital chain Rede D'Or have previously lured investors such as Singapore's GIC Pte and Carlyle Group CG.O.
($1 = 5.3360 reais)
(Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer; Editing by Christian Plumb and Sandra Maler)
((tatiana.bautzer@tr.com; Tel: +55-11-5644-7756; Mob: +55-119-4210-4173; Reuters Messaging: tatiana.bautzer.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | The former was purchased from Brazilian construction conglomerate Andrade Gutierrez and the latter from Spain's Abengoa SA ABG.MC. The latter were recently converted into ICU units when the city's healthcare system teetered on the verge of collapse as it suffered from one of the country's worst outbreaks of the virus. The hospitals represent first investments of the $250 million fund focused in Latin America raised by IG4 last March, mainly from European investors. | The former was purchased from Brazilian construction conglomerate Andrade Gutierrez and the latter from Spain's Abengoa SA ABG.MC. By Tatiana Bautzer SAO PAULO, May 30 (Reuters) - Brazilian private equity firm IG4 has spent 200 million reais ($38 million) on two recent deals to acquire hospitals through its recently formed OPY Health unit amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Both hospitals, one in the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte in the country's southeast which OPY bought in March and another one in the Amazonian city of Manaus whose purchase was finalized on Friday, are part of Brazil's public health system serving low-income members of the population. | The former was purchased from Brazilian construction conglomerate Andrade Gutierrez and the latter from Spain's Abengoa SA ABG.MC. By Tatiana Bautzer SAO PAULO, May 30 (Reuters) - Brazilian private equity firm IG4 has spent 200 million reais ($38 million) on two recent deals to acquire hospitals through its recently formed OPY Health unit amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Both hospitals, one in the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte in the country's southeast which OPY bought in March and another one in the Amazonian city of Manaus whose purchase was finalized on Friday, are part of Brazil's public health system serving low-income members of the population. | The former was purchased from Brazilian construction conglomerate Andrade Gutierrez and the latter from Spain's Abengoa SA ABG.MC. By Tatiana Bautzer SAO PAULO, May 30 (Reuters) - Brazilian private equity firm IG4 has spent 200 million reais ($38 million) on two recent deals to acquire hospitals through its recently formed OPY Health unit amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Both hospitals, one in the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte in the country's southeast which OPY bought in March and another one in the Amazonian city of Manaus whose purchase was finalized on Friday, are part of Brazil's public health system serving low-income members of the population. |
28759.0 | 2020-05-12 00:00:00 UTC | Validea Joel Greenblatt Strategy Daily Upgrade Report - 5/12/2020 | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/validea-joel-greenblatt-strategy-daily-upgrade-report-5-12-2020-2020-05-12 | nan | nan | The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Earnings Yield Investor model based on the published strategy of Joel Greenblatt. This value model looks for companies with high return on capital and earnings yields.
INTERPUBLIC GROUP OF COMPANIES INC (IPG) is a mid-cap value stock in the Advertising industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 0% to 90% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. is a global advertising and marketing services company. The Company specializes in consumer advertising, digital marketing, communications planning and media buying, public relations and specialized communications disciplines. It operates in two segments: Integrated Agency Networks (IAN) and Constituency Management Group (CMG). Its agencies offer customized marketing programs for clients that range in scale from global marketers to regional and local clients. IAN consists of McCann Worldgroup, FCB, MullenLowe Group, IPG Mediabrands, its digital specialist agencies and its domestic integrated agencies. CMG consists of its specialist marketing services offerings. It has three global networks: McCann Worldgroup, Foote, Cone & Belding and MullenLowe Group, which provide integrated, advertising and marketing solutions for clients. Its global media services companies include UM and Initiative, which operate under the IPG Mediabrands umbrella.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: PASS
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
BLACK STONE MINERALS LP (BSM) is a small-cap value stock in the Oil & Gas - Integrated industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 70% to 80% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Black Stone Minerals, L.P. is an owner of oil and natural gas mineral interests in the United States. The Company's principal business is maximizing the value of its existing portfolio of mineral and royalty assets through active management and expanding its asset base through acquisitions of additional mineral and royalty interests. As of December 31, 2016, it owned mineral interests in approximately 15.5 million acres, with an average 45.7% ownership interest in that acreage. As of December 31, 2016, it also owned nonparticipating royalty interests in 1.5 million acres and overriding royalty interests in 1.5 million acres. As of December 31, 2016, these non-cost-bearing interests, which it referred to collectively as its mineral and royalty interests, included ownership in 50,000 producing wells. As of December 31, 2016, its mineral and royalty interests were located in 41 states and in 64 onshore basins in the continental United States.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: FAIL
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL GROUP INC (CIGI) is a small-cap growth stock in the Real Estate Operations industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 80% to 90% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Colliers International Group Inc. provides commercial real estate services. The Company offers a range of commercial real estate services in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and several other countries in Asia, Europe and Latin America. Its segments include Americas, EMEA, Asia Pacific and Investment Management. Its services include Colliers Real Estate Services and Investment Management Services. Colliers Real Estate Services include sales and lease brokerage and outsourcing and advisory services. Its transaction brokerage business provides services in sales and leasing for commercial clients. Its outsourcing and advisory services division provides corporate and workplace solutions and project management services and research. The Company's investment management services are primarily conducted through its subsidiary, Harrison Street Real Estate Capital, LLC (Harrison Street) and its affiliates.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: PASS
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
TOPBUILD CORP (BLD) is a mid-cap growth stock in the Construction Services industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 70% to 80% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: TopBuild Corp. installs and distributes insulation products to the United States construction industry. The Company operates through two segments: Installation (TruTeam) and Distribution (Service Partners). Its Installation segment principally includes the sales and installation of insulation and other building products. Its Distribution segment includes the distribution of insulation and other building products. The Company also distributes range of insulation accessories throughout the United States including foam, netting, plastic sheeting, protective gear and other related building products.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: FAIL
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 50% to 90% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. is an automotive retailer in the United States. The Company owns and operates approximately 88 dealerships, consisting of 107 franchises, representing 31 domestic and foreign brands of vehicles. It also operates approximately 25 collision repair centers. In addition, it owns and operates two standalone used vehicle stores in Florida. Its stores offer automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. Its new vehicle revenues include new vehicle sales and lease transactions arranged by dealerships with third-party financial institutions.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: PASS
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
PRESTIGE CONSUMER HEALTHCARE INC (PBH) is a mid-cap value stock in the Retail (Drugs) industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 0% to 80% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Prestige Consumer Healthcare Inc., formerly Prestige Brands Holdings, Inc. is engaged in the marketing, sales and distribution of over-the-counter healthcare products. The Company operates through two segments: North American Over-the-Counter (OTC) Healthcare, and International Over-the-Counter Healthcare. Its portfolio of OTC healthcare products includes core brands, such as DenTek specialty oral care products, Monistat women's health products, Nix lice treatment, Chloraseptic sore throat treatments, Clear Eyes eye care products, Compound W wart treatments, The Doctor's NightGuard dental protector, Little Remedies pediatric over-the-counter products, Efferdent denture care products, Luden's throat drops, Dramamine motion sickness treatment, BC and Goody's pain relievers, Beano gas prevention, Debrox earwax remover, and Gaviscon antacid.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: FAIL
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
SYSTEMAX INC. (SYX) is a small-cap growth stock in the Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 70% to 80% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Systemax Inc. is a direct marketer of brand name and private label products. The Company's segments are Industrial Products Group (IPG), EMEA Technology Products Group (EMEA), and Corporate and Other (Corporate). The IPG segment sells an array of maintenance, repair and operational (MRO) products, which are marketed in North America. The Company offers a selection of products that are manufactured for its own design and marketed under the trademarks: Global, GlobalIndustrial.com, Nexel Relius, Paramount and Interion. EMEA sells products categorized as Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Consumer Electronics (CE), as well as related technical services, such as configuration, implementation, network security, and other technical services. CE products include television and video; audio; cameras and surveillance; Global Positioning System (GPS); cell phones; video games, and home and electronics accessories.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: FAIL
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
Since its inception, Validea's strategy based on Joel Greenblatt has returned 56.25% vs. 131.62% for the S&P 500. For more details on this strategy, click here
About Joel Greenblatt: In his 2005 bestseller The Little Book That Beats The Market, hedge fund manager Joel Greenblatt laid out a stunningly simple way to beat the market using two -- and only two -- fundamental variables. The "Magic Formula," as he called it, produced back-tested returns of 30.8 percent per year from 1988 through 2004, more than doubling the S&P 500's 12.4 percent return during that time. Greenblatt also produced exceptional returns as managing partner at Gotham Capital, a New York City-based hedge fund he founded. The firm averaged a remarkable 40 percent annualized return over more than two decades.
About Validea: Validea is aninvestment researchservice that follows the published strategies of investment legends. Validea offers both stock analysis and model portfolios based on gurus who have outperformed the market over the long-term, including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Martin Zweig. For more information about Validea, click here
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. It has three global networks: McCann Worldgroup, Foote, Cone & Belding and MullenLowe Group, which provide integrated, advertising and marketing solutions for clients. The Company also distributes range of insulation accessories throughout the United States including foam, netting, plastic sheeting, protective gear and other related building products. | For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. IAN consists of McCann Worldgroup, FCB, MullenLowe Group, IPG Mediabrands, its digital specialist agencies and its domestic integrated agencies. Its stores offer automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. | For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Company Description: The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. is a global advertising and marketing services company. Its stores offer automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. | For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Company Description: The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. is a global advertising and marketing services company. Its services include Colliers Real Estate Services and Investment Management Services. |
28760.0 | 2020-05-06 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) Q1 2020 Earnings Call Transcript | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-group-abg-q1-2020-earnings-call-transcript-2020-05-06 | nan | nan | Image source: The Motley Fool.
Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG)
Q1 2020 Earnings Call
May 05, 2020, 11:00 a.m. ET
Contents:
Prepared Remarks
Questions and Answers
Call Participants
Prepared Remarks:
Operator
Good day, and welcome to the Asbury Automotive Group Q1 2020earnings call Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Mr. Matt Pettoni.
Please go ahead, sir.
Matt Pettoni -- Head, Investor Relations
Thanks, operator, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Asbury Automotive Group's first-quarter 2020earnings call Today's call is being recorded and will be available for replay later today. The press release dealing Asbury's first-quarter results was issued earlier this morning and is posted on our website at asburyauto.com.
Participating with us today are David Hult, our president and chief executive officer; Dan Clara, our senior vice president of operations; and Matt Pettoni, our vice president of finance and treasurer. At the conclusion of our remarks, we will open the call up for questions, and I will be available later for any follow-up questions you might have. Before we begin, I must remind you that the discussion during the call today is likely to contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements other than those which are historical in nature, including those statements relating to the duration and contemplated impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and financial performance, as well as the financial projections and expectations about our products, markets and growth.
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All forward-looking statements are subject to significant uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those suggested by the statements, including potential impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic on us, our industry and our customers, suppliers, vendors and business partners. For information regarding certain of the risks that may cause actual results to differ please see our filings with the SEC from time to time, including our Form 10-K for the year ended December 2019, any subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our earnings release issued earlier today. We expressly disclaim any responsibility to update forward-looking statements. In addition, certain non-GAAP financial measures as defined under SEC rules may be discussed on this call.
As required by applicable SEC rules, we provide reconciliations of any such non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures on our website. It is my pleasure to hand the call over to our CEO, David Hult. David?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, Matt. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our first-quarter 2020earnings call The quarter started off very strong.
For January and February, our company was facing extremely well. Here are the results. Total revenue increased 10%. Gross profit increased 12% and adjusted EPS increased 31%.
On a same-store basis, total revenue increased 6%. Gross profit increased 7%. New vehicle gross profit increased 10%. Used vehicle retail gross profit increased 9%.
Finance and insurance gross profit increased by 9%. Parts and service gross profit increased 3%, and SG&A as a percentage of gross profit decreased 130 basis points. Our business performed very well all the way through the first half of March. During this time, we are very successful in implementing our business and omnichannel strategy, which Dan will provide an update on the progress we have made.
As we continued executing our business strategy, we completed our financing and integration work to close the Park Place acquisition in late March. We divested a Nissan store in Atlanta and exited the Mississippi market, which included two Nissan stores, one Toyota, one Chevrolet and one Ford store. We also acquired a Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram store in Denver, where we continue to grow. These transactions are in line with our strategy of managing our assets to create the most shareholder value.
Though the quarter started to upgrade our operations were significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the second half of March and continued into April. As we saw business decline, we acted decisively to fortify our business to prepare for the inevitable slowdown. Unfortunately, this included canceling the Park Place acquisition, furloughing employees and reducing salaries and benefits. We also acted fast to rightsize our business by reducing expenses, deferring most of our capital expenditures and negotiate significant discounts with certain vendors.
This totals approximately $15 million in expense reductions for April. Turning to the business in April, same-store revenue declined approximately 35% for the month. We started out the month very slow with sales and service off between 50% and 60%. However, each week in April improved and the last week being off about 25% in sales and 30% in parts and service.
We believe our May business will grow 20% incrementally over April. Because we cannot predict the duration of the pandemic and resulting economic impact on our business, we will continue to evaluate our options and make real-time decisions as appropriate during this challenging time. Our top priorities are to ensure the health and safety of our employees and guests while preserving the financial strength of our company. One final comment.
During tough times, you find out the resilience of people. I just want to say how impressed I am with our teammates. It has been inspiring to watch our teams in the field have positive attitudes, deliver great guest experience and find ways to serve our guests in a safe manner. Thank you very much to all our teammates.
I will now hand the call over to Matt to discuss our financial performance. Matt?
Matt Pettoni -- Head, Investor Relations
Thank you, David. The first quarter marked performance with adjusted earnings per share of $1.80. Overall, compared to the prior-year first quarter, revenue decreased by 4%, gross profit decreased by 2%, gross margin of 16.9% was 20 basis points higher than last year. SG&A as a percent of gross profit increased by 310 basis points to 71.5%.
Adjusted operating margin decreased 50 basis points to 4.3%. Adjusted income from operations decreased by 15% and adjusted EPS decreased by 18%. Net income for the first quarter of 2020 was adjusted for the following pre-tax items, a gain on dealership divestitures of $33.7 million or $1.30 per diluted share, a legal settlement gain of $900,000 or $0.03 per diluted share, a gain on the sale of vacant property of $300,000 or $0.01 per diluted share, a loss on debt extinguishment of $20.7 million or $0.79 per diluted share, a loss on franchise rights impairment of $23 million or $0.89 per diluted share and Park Place termination costs of $11.6 million or $0.45 per diluted share. Net income for the first quarter of 2019 was adjusted for a fixed asset write-off of $2.4 million or $0.09 per diluted share.
Our effective tax rate was 19.1% for the first quarter of 2020, compared to 23.8% in the first quarter of 2019. The decrease in our effective tax rate was primarily the result of an excess tax benefit relating to divesting of share-based awards. Looking at expenses, SG&A as a percentage of gross profit for the quarter was 71.5%, an increase of 310 basis points over last year. This was a very solid performance considering the pressure we felt on total gross profit related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Floor plan interest expense decreased by $3.2 million over the prior-year quarter, driven primarily by the decrease in the LIBOR rate. With respect to capital deployed, we acquired a Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram store in the Denver market in late January 2020. We expect this store to generate approximately $124 million in annual revenues in a normal environment. We divested our Nissan Atlanta store in February 2020.
This dealership generated approximately $77 million in annualized revenue, and we divested all five stores in the Mississippi market in March 2020. These dealerships generated approximately $334 million in annualized revenue. In early February, we raised the financing for the Park Place acquisition, and we refinanced our $600 million 6% notes due in 2024. We were able to extend our maturities and save approximately $8 million in annual interest expense.
After repaying the $525 million that was designated for the Park Place acquisition, we now have two bonds outstanding, a $280 million, 4.5% senior note due in 2028 and a $320 million, 4.75% senior note due in 2030. As mid-March approach and the COVID-19 pandemic started the spread, we focused on maximizing our financial strength. We made the tough decision to cancel the Park Place acquisition and draw our entire $237 million revolvers and our $110 million use line to ensure we have ample cash to manage through this pandemic and be opportunistic after. From a liquidity perspective, we ended the quarter with $389 million in cash, $180 million available in floor plan offset accounts and $13 million available on our used vehicle line.
In addition, we have $69 million available to draw on a mortgage facility and approximately $100 million of unencumbered real estate. At the end of the quarter, our total leverage ratio stood at 3.6x and our net leverage ratio stood at 1.8 times. We believe that our $651 million of liquidity and the extension of our debt maturities gives us the strength to manage through a recession and allow us to capitalize on attractive future capital deployment opportunities once the pandemic is behind us. These actions put our company in a very healthy financial position.
And as a result, we did not apply for a loan through the paycheck protection program. I would now like to hand the call over to Dan to walk us through our operating performance in more detail. Dan?
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Thank you, Matt. My remarks will pertain to our same-store performance compared to the first quarter of 2019. Looking at new vehicles. While SAAR for the quarter was at 15.2 million units or 10% below last year, we focus on retail SAAR, which was also down 10% for the quarter.
In this lower retail SAAR environment, new unit sales decreased 9%. Overall, our new car margin was up 4.5%, flat from the prior-year period. While import margins were flat from the prior-year period, domestic margins were up significantly. At the end of March, our total new vehicle inventory was $861 million, and our day supply was 105, up 18 days from the prior year.
In April, we were able to drop our new car inventory approximately $120 million from March 2020. While these levels may seem high, because the OEM factories have been shut down, we believe we could run into a low day supply for the summer selling season. Turning to used vehicles, the gross profit margin was 7%, which is up 70 basis points from the prior period and down 50 basis points from Q1 2019, represents a gross profit per vehicle of $1,552. While our used vehicle unit sales decreased 7% from the prior year, we were able to increase our used to new ratio by 250 basis points to 91.5%.
And for the first two months of the year, we were pacing strong with good grosses. However, in March, the shelter-in-place government mandates and the COVID-19 closures at several of our stores negatively impacted our sales. Our used vehicle inventory ended March at $158 million, which represents a 42-day supply. During April, used car auction prices experienced major declines.
When the market valuations dropped, we put a plan in place to maximize the value of our inventory. We made a decision to move used vehicles from markets being severely impacted by the pandemic to markets less impacted. These actions enabled us to drop used vehicle inventory line in April. Turning to F&I, our team continues to deliver strong results.
Total F&I gross profit decreased by 3% due to the vehicle sales volume decrease. However, gross profit per vehicle increased by $90 to $1,688 from the prior-year quarter. When we think about gross profit per vehicle, we look at the total front-end yield, which combined new, used and F&I gross profit. This provides the best view of our true profit per vehicle sold.
In the first quarter, our front-end yield per vehicle increased to $3,301 from $3,231 last year. Note that our front-end yield has remained stable over the past decade. Turning to parts and service, our parts and service revenue decreased 1% and gross profit decreased 3%. Our gross profit was impacted by the decision we made to protect the income of our A and B technicians during this pandemic.
Our parts and service business was also significantly impacted by several of our highest volume stores being shut down for up to two weeks because of positive COVID-19 test. Finally, I would like to provide an update on some of our key operational responses to the COVID-19 pandemic decline in business. We experienced shelter-in-place governmental orders in all of our markets. We implemented CDC-recommended health and safety measures in each dealership to ensure the safety of our employees and guests.
We took a market-based approach to both new and used inventory because each market and each store has had a different experience. We furloughed approximately 2,300 employees. We did not furlough any A and B level technicians. However, we have several that asked for a personal leave of absence.
Based on consumer demand, we reduced our advertising in March, 50%, while putting a focus on online transactions and customer pickups. For the quarter, this action helped us drop our quarterly per vehicle advertising expense $21 to $155 per vehicle. We relocated and held back used car inventory to avoid auctions. We reviewed every expense line on our P&L and focused on reducing vendor pricing.
We grew our online service appointments by 1% in the quarter. However, for January and February, we were up 24% year over year. We were also able to grow our PUSHSTART online sales. They were up 9% in the first quarter.
And in March, PUSHSTART sales represented 15% of our used car sales. In conclusion, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome our new team members from the John Elway CDJR store that joined Asbury this quarter. I also want to express appreciation to all our teammates in the field and our support center who continue to produce best-in-class performance during this tough time. We will now turn the call over to the operator and take your questions.
Operator?
Questions & Answers:
Operator
[Operator Instructions] And we'll take our first question from Rick Nelson with Stephens.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst
Thanks. Good morning, Dan. How do you see consumer behavior changing post-COVID, maybe some of your digital efforts to address that change in consumer behavior?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure, Rick. This is David. I'm sure like every one of our peers and private retailers, we're experiencing a lot of traffic online. And we're doing a lot of transactions, pickup and delivery and at home, and roughly about 25% of our sales are being delivered at home.
We've been dealing with each of the counties and states and mandates as far as the shelter in place. We think we've found a nice rhythm with our business. We're excited that the incremental business that we've seen increased in April, and we're experiencing that increase to continue into May. So it's a little bit difficult to predict the future and whether the virus comes back around and what happens.
But as we sit here today, we're positive and we feel very good about the pace of our business. The changes that we made to adapt to the business and how we look going forward to handle the business. It's a very flexible model for us. And bringing back employees is certainly an opportunity for us when the business wants it.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst
So, David, with the business now showing some signs of improvement how do you think about acquisitions and Park Place? Is there potential to reengage with them at some point?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. We thought the Park Place deal was going to be a transformational deal for us, and it was a heck of an acquisition, but things happen. On the other side of that coin, we're sitting on a lot of cash and probably the lowest net leverage ratio we've had, it may be ever. So we're very opportunistic.
I think we need to see the dust settle a little bit. There is some activity out there. We're certainly talking to people. I don't want to comment on the Park Place transaction.
But we feel like from a cash position and where we're sitting operationally, we have the ability to be very flexible and being acquisitive when the right opportunities come.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst
Gotcha. And those cost cuts that you made, can you put those in dollar terms and would any of that be considered permanent cost takeout with more business likely shifting to digital?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. When we came into this in early April, we want to build the plan for 90 days and not beyond, not knowing what was going to take place. We made choices. We kept more expense in than we needed.
We could have cut more and could have cut more to the bone. We believe the strength and success of our company is our people. So we furloughed the folks that we needed to, the folks that we didn't furlough, we basically guaranteed everyone's pay, took them off the commission plans. And we guaranteed our A and B level technicians and didn't furlough any technicians.
Because of our cash position and how we manage our expenses and the history that we have shown how well we manage SG&A, it actually could have been better in the quarter had we managed to just cut the normal expense as you would in a typical recession. We believe that this was going to be temporary. And eventually, the business was going to come back. So we want to show our teammates how much we value them by taking.
Care of them through compensation and keeping the stability with them and employed at the same time. We took out about $15 million in expenses in the month of April. Most of that expense or over half of that expense was not personnel-related. That other lever is there if we need to do it.
We have, like I'm sure all the other of our peers, we have strong metrics that will dictate to us when we bring people back. And when we see those metrics starting to be achieved, we'll certainly bring people back at that time. The folks that we've furloughed, we communicate with them consistently, and we were hopeful one day to bring them all back.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst
The markets that have opened up, I know you spoke to last weeks as unit sales being down 25%, service and parts being down 30%. Is there a difference in the markets that have opened up, how are those performing?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. There's no question, there's a difference in the market. They're certainly performing well. And again, we stated in the remarks that we see March being a 20% incremental increase over April, we're only a few days into May, but we're very optimistic what we've seen so far.
So we hope the virus can be contained, and that it doesn't come back in resurgence. But we're hopeful in what we're seeing. Our OEM partners have been very supportive with the incentives in communications and conversations and seeing what they can do to assist us. And it just shows how valued of a partner they are to us, and we're appreciative of that.
So we're opportunistic looking at May.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst
All right. Thanks and good luck.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
And we'll take our next question from John Murphy with Bank of America.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
Good morning, guys. I just wanted to follow-up on one of the comments you made around new vehicle inventory about the potential of running into some shortages potentially in the summer months, depending on how production gets up and running, I'm just curious how you're thinking about your view and even used vehicle inventory at the moment, particularly around the context for pricing and protecting or supporting GPUs? Because it seems like there may actually be an odd situation developing here whether everybody expects demand to be down, but there might actually be an inventory shortage that supports GPU. So just trying to get your thoughts around that, what do you meant by that commentary?
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
John, this is Dan. And from a new car vehicle standpoint and day supply back to what I referenced earlier, we're seeing with the close in our shutdown in the plants by the different OEMs as the business continues to increase, then in some of our luxury and some of our domestic specifically, we could run into a lower day supply of some of the models. Specifically talking as to how we are managing through new and used car pricing and also day supply, we look at it as a model-by-model basis. And we make decisions based on that.
The pricing, we continue to implement our market-based pricing. And to your point, the bottom has not fallen out as much on the market-based pricing. So we will continue adjusting and continue executing our strategy once again based on market day supply and market-based pricing.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
And what I would add to that, specifically around used, it took a dramatic drop in valuations at the auctions in late March and early April. And we made a decision at that point in time, not to get nervous in fire sale inventory because I didn't think that that was a real -- I think that was a knee-jerk reaction to the market and wasn't sustainable. And I didn't really want to suffer large losses or blow out inventory that wasn't needed. Each week since, and this week is extremely strong at the auctions, they're coming back significantly every week.
So our day supply is looking a little bit high, but we just didn't feel the need to turn it and take the loss because we didn't see the values dropping that much, and we thought it'd come back, we got lucky and they've come back well. We also moved a lot of inventory from state to state depending upon the shelter in place to move inventory to a market where it had the potential to turn faster.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
OK. That's incredibly helpful. And then also you sort of -- in the same vein, how are automakers helping out with this inventory carry here. It sounds like the inventory will be carried for a little bit longer.
But like you kind of just said it wouldn't necessarily fire sales. What kind of help you get on floor plan assistance and ultimately, in any other fashion from the automakers at the moment?
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
John, this is Dan again. We have seen support from our OEMs in floor plan assistance. And back to David's point and comments earlier, we really appreciate their support. And what they have done for the industry as we go through the pandemic.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
OK. But is there anything specific going on floor plan, are they -- I mean is assistance being extended 10, 20, 30 days? Is there any kind of specific example you can give on the floor plan assistance side?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
They've all given additional time and days of floor plan assistance. They've been extremely helpful as it relates to that. They've also increased their incentives coming up with 0% financing. It's been a great partnership, and they see what we're going through and they've been supportive.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
OK. And then just lastly --
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
The other thing -- John, the other big thing, I didn't mention it. A lot of the monies are always tied to hitting certain targets. They've essentially eliminated those targets and just paid out the money. Which is very extremely helpful as well.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
OK. That's great detail. And then just lastly on parts and service. One of the constraints pre-COVID was using capital or tax.
Given everything that's going on right now, I'm just curious if you think on the other side, hopefully, in a few weeks or a few months, with the rebound in parking service, you may have more tax available to you to hire and/or over time with some of the folks that get furloughed, could you send them to trade schools and potentially get them trained up to be B and C techs or eventually A techs and provide another career path for them, it would be pretty profitable to them as well?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. I'll tell you, I haven't been in the industry a long time, I have been through many downturns. You never let a good downturn go to waste. It's a great opportunity to focus on your employees and training and career development and really build stronger processes within the organization and get better at what you do.
Guaranteeing the technicians pay and not prolong the A and B level techs. That word has gotten out in a lot of markets, and we've actually been hiring some techs in the last 30 days that heard about what we're doing for our techs, so they were looking to come on board. Downturns serve a good opportunity for you to really get your house in order and add techs. And we're hopeful that we know the business will come back.
We know there's going to be some pent-up demand. People have been putting off service and part of it with the shelter in place, they're not driving the cars. The cars aren't banging into each other in the highways, the collision is slowing down a little bit. But eventually, as that comes back and driving here and around Atlanta, I can tell you they're already starting to bang into each other again.
That business will come back for us. So we're excited about that. We're happy to bring these technicians on now and pay them, even though we might not necessarily have the work for them. And that value has been well-received by our techs.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
And then just one quick last question on that. I mean, is there any sort of level of capacity government you think that you might sort of point to is what you can handle or not handle on the recovery, meaning, let's say there's massive pent-up parts and service work in the third and fourth quarter? I mean, could you handle up 10%, 15%, 20%? I mean what do you think is reasonable to think about the sort of on a year-over-year basis where you might start running into some limitations on manned capacity in terms of being --
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure, John. It always depends upon the month and the circumstance. And do you get hit at all brands that want or how does it come? But I would say a fair number would be 20% could easily be absorbed. And that's 20% over normal terms.
Over times right now, again, parts and services, I made the comment, it was down 30% by the end of April. It's starting off May better than it ended in April. But if we're backwards, say, 20% in parts and service right now, there's an additional 40% on top of that we could handle without worrying about staffing issues. And as far as bringing back support staff in the parts and service area, that would be efficient and quick.
Again, store-by-store decision depending upon how the business and the market reacts.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
That's very good to hear. Thank you very much.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
And we'll take our next question from Bret Jordan with Jefferies.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Good morning, guys. More in the, I guess, sort of the magnitude and the abruptness of the shock, do you think there will be any store closings, either franchised or independent used dealers or even independent garage operators that would allow for real market share gains here? Or is the hit is the recovery quick enough that most stores will stay open?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
This is David. That's tough to predict. A lot of the independent used car dealers rely on landlines and I know a lot of the full plan lenders for those independents really govern their ability to buy cars starting in March. They're really only advancing 80% of the values.
So that kind of brought down the market as well. Like anyone else, depending upon how someone was positioned regarding capital going into this, we'll determine how well they'll be able to weather it. And obviously, we've never in our lifetimes come across a virus like this and had to deal with something like this. So it's very difficult to talk to someone and predict what next week or 30 days or 45 days from now it's going to look like.
It's hard to imagine that some independents wouldn't go out. It's hard to imagine that some folks wouldn't run into some capital issues, but I couldn't really comment on a number.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
OK. And then I guess a follow-up. Your comment about $15 million in expense reductions in April, and you said a bit over half of that was not personnel. Is that a number something a bit, something half or so of that would be a sustained expense reduction, I guess, just taking out permanent overhead? Or is it not as much as that?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. I'll talk about both halves of it. The non-personnel expense side, a lot of it was negotiated discounts with our large vendor partners for a period of time. So a lot of that expense will come back.
Some of it, like anything else, because of the scale of business right now, some of the expense will stay out. But like anything else, that incrementally comes back, some of it will come back. The personnel side, we could have gone a lot deeper than we did. We chose not to because we wanted to preserve the stability of our teammates and show them how much we value them and give them a steady paid check and income through this.
There was an incremental expense in doing that because from a percentage standpoint, we're paying out more than we're bringing in because we realize for a period of time, this was the right thing to do for our teammates and eventually would come back. So far, that's worked out well for us. We're in a great cash position to be able to do that. But certainly, for some reason, if this ended up being a very prolonged thing and a much slower recovery.
We could certainly make those adjustments on the compensation side as well.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Great. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. And we'll take our next question from Ryan Sigdahl with Craig-Hallum. Just one moment. Please stand by just one more moment.
Mr. Sigdahl, please go ahead with your question.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Hello. Can you hear me?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
OK. Sorry about that, guys. Just one for me. Can you talk about your omnichannel business, either quantitatively or qualitatively amid the shelter-in-place restrictions? And do you think that has helped you guys take market share among some of your less technology-savvy dealer competitors?
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
This is Dan. Yes. Like I mentioned on our omnichannel technology and strategy, for the first two months of the year, we were up 25% increase in both -- in January and 23% in February. And I do believe that it continues to give us a competitive advantage.
As we moved into the entire Q1 of 2020, we increased that 9%, and once the pandemic hit, the online activity continue to increase. And even in the month of -- we've continued to see that trend translating to the month of March, April and May is starting very healthy as well.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
And I would just follow-up. 15% of our used car sales in a month is a record for us. We've been hovering in the 8% to 10% range. So we're excited about that.
Something we did -- we've been working on this for four years. And about four years ago, we also decided to go to really 30-day outs with all our software partners. Because we want the ability to be flexible and transition if there was a better product that came along. And we don't think, from our perspective, it's a good capital investment to invest in software from a hardware cost.
So we work with partners. We utilize their cash in our ideas, and we partner together and share our ideas with anyone that's interested. We're solely focused on creating an entire sales transaction online, 100% completed. Like anyone else, we shop our competitors.
We think we have a pretty good tool out there. We've created a new relationship with another partner. And we think we can actually go further than where we've been. So we're excited about the future.
We're working hard on developing that product more. And we think we've been pretty good in the space at execution so far.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Just one quick follow-up. Are you able to elaborate on who that new partner is?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
I really don't want to because it's such a competitive space. I'll say the one that we've used for four years has done extremely well and partnered with other large peers of ours and OEMs, which has been great. They've plateaued a little bit in a very solid company, but there's another aggressive company out there that we can see a pathway to take us further down that transaction line. We compare ourselves to Carvana from a standpoint of online transaction.
And I would say the trade-in piece is one that they -- is better than what we offer today. We feel like our online marketplace for financing is superior to anyone's in the marketplace right now. So we're looking forward to working with this partner and enhancing those areas and getting more of the documents online to complete the entire transaction. We're not there yet.
No one's really there yet, but it's our sole focus to get there.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
All right. Thanks, guys. I'll turn it over from here. Good luck.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. And we'll take our next question from Armintas Sinkevicius with Morgan Stanley.
Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Thank you for taking the question. Just as we think about the sequential improvement here week over week and into May, what you've seen so far, can you give us some color on who you've seen buying cars whether it's geographic or demographic? And what are the drivers of the sales that we've had during this shelter-in-place period?
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
This is Dan. We're seeing the customer base coming in, driven by the incentives that the OEMs are putting out there. As you can see, there's quite a few offering to 0% and that is driving quite a bit of a traffic if it provides an opportunity for consumers to upgrade into a new vehicle.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
I think we're seeing it across the board. Lending is available. There's no tightening on lending, which is great. The 0% and other incentives that are out there.
I think people are looking to be opportunistic. So it's not just the luxury deal. It's not just an import deal. It's not just a domestic deal.
Clearly, the trucks are very strong right now. But with all brands, there's some interesting pent-up demand and I think it's really mainly driven by the incentives.
Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Got it. And then on the parts and services side, that's been more resilient than sales. What are the drivers there? What type of work are people getting done? If you don't really need to leave your home, why are you coming in to get your car service? Or what are you seeing?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. It obviously varies by brand. But I would say there is the pent-up demand, there's a lot of people that are servicing at home saying I'm not really driving the car, I can push off the service. We're doing warranty work right now.
We are doing a lot of customer pay work. A lot of that is communicating, kind of, if you will, the typical gorilla marketing direct with the consumer locally grassroots. And that's the pickup in delivery. And on average, we're doing 25% of that, but we have some stores that are over 50% pickup in delivery.
So I'm sure that when things -- the shelters open up, so to speak, and the markets open up. But we're just trying to be opportunistic to be here for our guests and communicate with them and offer them a level of service. But it really is everything across the board from traditional maintenance to warranty work and additional items as well.
Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Got it. Thank you for taking the questions
Operator
And we'll take our next question from Rajat Gupta with JP Morgan.
Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Oh, hi. Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. I just wanted to follow-up on a couple of the previous questions.
You talked about the online opportunity you are seeing a bit up there. Could you give us a sense of what the unit economics are looking like for the online transaction, be it on the sales side or on the service side versus what you have been doing historically? And specifically, like both from a gross profit and SG&A per year perspective? How should that be trending going forward as well? And I have a follow-up.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. I'll start with sales and then finish with service. And if I miss something, this is for you, by the way, please come back around and let me know. On the sales side, on an average month, pre-virus, we're between 8% and 10% of our new car sales are transacted online.
Now 90% of our business is transacted online, but most of it comes in the showroom. That 8% to 10% is handled completely online. So that took place. As we went into this, that number started incrementally growing.
And used cars was in that same 8% to 10% range. In March, it grew to 15%, and it grew a little bit larger than that into April. I think it will probably level off a little bit and maybe come down a little bit as the shelters open up. But right now, it's 15% or higher depending upon the brand.
As far as PVRs and margins, this is an area of opportunity for us. Currently, we see the same margins online as we do if the transaction took place inside. We're always surprised by the good F&I numbers that are generated online. But I'll tell you, one of our opportunities for growth is creating a better F&I experience online.
And that is a big focus of ours that we've been working on for a while. We're not there yet, but we're opportunistic about the future. From a service standpoint, pre-virus, between 35% and 40% of our business was handled online and scheduled online. And we communicate with our consumers mostly via text as far as their NPIs and also for them paying for their transactions via text as well.
Some stores were north of 50%, but the whole company, we're between 35% and 40% of the parts and service business was generated online for us. As we went into this, our overall appointment numbers naturally dropped as the business dropped in the store, and because of the way we were choosing to communicate with our customers, the progressive online employment fell off a little bit on a percent basis. But as of this week, that's incrementally starting to grow back. So I'm not sure if I answered all your questions.
If I didn't, please come back.
Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
That was very helpful. But just from like a cost structure perspective, from a headcount perspective, like if we were to see somewhat of a permanent shift toward the online channels and just in terms of your overall sales base. Would you be able to manage that kind of volume with your free-gated cost structure or headcount? Or just trying to understand like how would like the SG&A, the unit economics look like post the current downturn. I mean, it looks like there would just be higher throughput here.
So does that like permanently change your SG&A to gross profile going forward, or is that not the case?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
So one thing we started over a year ago, we started to build the dealership and not to set a return, but we're calling it our dealership of the future. And that's -- basically, the store looks different, acts different, it's compensated differently, and it's focused to do most transactions online, both in sales and service. That model shows tremendous potential to have an impact on SG&A expenses. In a COVID environment, it's really difficult to say what the new normal is going to be and what the levels are going to be.
I would tell you in that model that we're seeing with the dealership of the future, you can certainly be more efficient, and you can be a flatter organization with less COGS in the wheel the more transactions and transparency that you have online. It creates a better experience for our guests. And quite honestly, it creates a better experience for our teammate as well.
Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
So that makes sense. Thank you.
Operator
And we'll take our next question from Stephanie Benjamin with SunTrust.
Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst
Hi. Good afternoon. Hello. I just wanted to follow up on specifically the used business.
I know that you called out some improving trends throughout April and some improving trends in May across the business. A lot of that driven by some of the incentives you're seeing from the OEMs and great support from them. But can you just talk about everything between used vehicle values, demand for consumers? Are you seeing more consumers kind of gratitude toward new vehicles? Just any color there would be helpful.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
I'll start it and flip it to Dan. We're a consumer-driven market that appreciates incentives and deals. I would say the demand is a little bit higher for new than used right now, but I think that's really driven by the incentives that are out there. The used car business is always going to be healthy and strong, in my opinion.
And the certified pre-owner CPO option is a great value proposition for a consumer. So I think we feel pretty strong about it. Dan, I don't know if you want to comment. Oh, come on.
Come on.
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
David, I would just echo what you just said about potentially seeing a little more demand, so gravitating toward the new side of the business because of the incentives and the special financing. But again, that certify preowned is a great option for the consumer as well.
Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst
Right. And that's what I have. Thank you, Dan.
Operator
[Operator signoff]
Duration: 55 minutes
Call participants:
Matt Pettoni -- Head, Investor Relations
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG) Q1 2020 Earnings Call May 05, 2020, 11:00 a.m. Operator [Operator signoff] Duration: 55 minutes Call participants: Matt Pettoni -- Head, Investor Relations David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer And what I would add to that, specifically around used, it took a dramatic drop in valuations at the auctions in late March and early April. | Operator [Operator signoff] Duration: 55 minutes Call participants: Matt Pettoni -- Head, Investor Relations David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG) Q1 2020 Earnings Call May 05, 2020, 11:00 a.m. Participating with us today are David Hult, our president and chief executive officer; Dan Clara, our senior vice president of operations; and Matt Pettoni, our vice president of finance and treasurer. | Operator [Operator signoff] Duration: 55 minutes Call participants: Matt Pettoni -- Head, Investor Relations David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG) Q1 2020 Earnings Call May 05, 2020, 11:00 a.m. Participating with us today are David Hult, our president and chief executive officer; Dan Clara, our senior vice president of operations; and Matt Pettoni, our vice president of finance and treasurer. | Operator [Operator signoff] Duration: 55 minutes Call participants: Matt Pettoni -- Head, Investor Relations David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG) Q1 2020 Earnings Call May 05, 2020, 11:00 a.m. So our day supply is looking a little bit high, but we just didn't feel the need to turn it and take the loss because we didn't see the values dropping that much, and we thought it'd come back, we got lucky and they've come back well. |
28761.0 | 2020-03-25 00:00:00 UTC | Consumer Sector Update for 03/25/2020: NKE, CHD, ABG, WMT, MCD, DIS, CVS, KO | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/consumer-sector-update-for-03-25-2020%3A-nke-chd-abg-wmt-mcd-dis-cvs-ko-2020-03-25 | nan | nan | Top Consumer Stocks:
WMT: -0.77%
MCD: +1.52%
DIS: +2.65%
CVS: +0.48%
KO: +4.69%
Most consumer heavyweights were gaining in Wednesday's pre-market trading.
Stocks moving on news include:
(+) Nike (NKE), which was gaining more than 10% after it reported a fiscal Q3 EPS of $0.53, down from $0.68 reported a year earlier, and lower than the $0.54 average estimate of analysts polled by Capital IQ. The company also said it has reopened almost 80% of its stores in China where consumers drove digital commerce for the athletics retailer during the COVID-19 shut-down.
(+) Church & Dwight Company (CHD) was advancing by more than 2% after it drew $825 million from its $1 billion revolving credit line as a precautionary measure amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The company said it continued to operate all of its manufacturing facilities and distribution centers as substantially all of its products are considered essential under recent governmental guidance.
(-) Asbury Automotive (ABG) was declining more than 6% after saying its wholly owned subsidiary has cancelled its plans to buy substantially all of the assets of, and certain real property related to, the Park Place Dealership in Texas. The company will pay $10 million in liquidated damages. As a result, it expects to incur roughly $5.7 million of fees, accrued interest and other expenses in Q1.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | (-) Asbury Automotive (ABG) was declining more than 6% after saying its wholly owned subsidiary has cancelled its plans to buy substantially all of the assets of, and certain real property related to, the Park Place Dealership in Texas. (+) Church & Dwight Company (CHD) was advancing by more than 2% after it drew $825 million from its $1 billion revolving credit line as a precautionary measure amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The company said it continued to operate all of its manufacturing facilities and distribution centers as substantially all of its products are considered essential under recent governmental guidance. | (-) Asbury Automotive (ABG) was declining more than 6% after saying its wholly owned subsidiary has cancelled its plans to buy substantially all of the assets of, and certain real property related to, the Park Place Dealership in Texas. Top Consumer Stocks: Most consumer heavyweights were gaining in Wednesday's pre-market trading. | (-) Asbury Automotive (ABG) was declining more than 6% after saying its wholly owned subsidiary has cancelled its plans to buy substantially all of the assets of, and certain real property related to, the Park Place Dealership in Texas. Stocks moving on news include: (+) Nike (NKE), which was gaining more than 10% after it reported a fiscal Q3 EPS of $0.53, down from $0.68 reported a year earlier, and lower than the $0.54 average estimate of analysts polled by Capital IQ. The company also said it has reopened almost 80% of its stores in China where consumers drove digital commerce for the athletics retailer during the COVID-19 shut-down. | (-) Asbury Automotive (ABG) was declining more than 6% after saying its wholly owned subsidiary has cancelled its plans to buy substantially all of the assets of, and certain real property related to, the Park Place Dealership in Texas. Top Consumer Stocks: Most consumer heavyweights were gaining in Wednesday's pre-market trading. |
28762.0 | 2020-03-10 00:00:00 UTC | Validea Warren Buffett Strategy Daily Upgrade Report - 3/10/2020 | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/validea-warren-buffett-strategy-daily-upgrade-report-3-10-2020-2020-03-10 | nan | nan | The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Patient Investor model based on the published strategy of Warren Buffett. This strategy seeks out firms with long-term, predictable profitability and low debt that trade at reasonable valuations.
NORDSON CORPORATION (NDSN) is a mid-cap growth stock in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Warren Buffett changed from 73% to 80% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Nordson Corporation engineers, manufactures and markets differentiated products and systems used to dispense, apply and control adhesives, coatings, polymers, sealants, biomaterials, and other fluids, to test and inspect for quality, and to treat and cure surfaces. The Company's segments include Adhesive Dispensing Systems, Advanced Technology Systems and Industrial Coating Systems. The Adhesive Dispensing Systems segment delivers its precision dispensing and processing technology to various markets. The Advanced Technology Systems segment integrates its product technologies found in progressive stages of a customer's production process, such as surface treatment, precisely controlled automated, and post-dispense bond testing, optical inspection and X-ray inspection. The Industrial Coating Systems segment provides equipment used primarily for applying coatings, paint, finishes, sealants and other materials, and for curing and drying of dispensed material.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS PREDICTABILITY: PASS
DEBT SERVICE: PASS
RETURN ON EQUITY: PASS
RETURN ON TOTAL CAPITAL: PASS
FREE CASH FLOW: PASS
USE OF RETAINED EARNINGS: FAIL
SHARE REPURCHASE: NEUTRAL
INITIAL RATE OF RETURN: PASS
EXPECTED RETURN: PASS
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
MEDIFAST INC (MED) is a small-cap value stock in the Biotechnology & Drugs industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Warren Buffett changed from 86% to 92% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Medifast, Inc. produces, distributes and sells weight loss, weight management, and healthy living products, and other consumable health and nutritional products. The Company's product lines include weight loss, weight management, and healthy living meal replacements, snacks, hydration products, and vitamins. Its business units include Optavia, Medifast Direct, Franchise Medifast Weight Control Centers (MWCC) and Medifast Wholesale. Optavia is a personal coaching division of the Company that consists of Optavia Coaches, who provides coaching and support to clients utilizing the Optavia platform. Medifast Direct is its direct-to-consumer business unit that allows customers to order Medifast products directly through its Website or its in-house call center. The MWCC business unit sells product through franchise and reseller locations, which offers structured programs and a team of professionals to help customers achieve weight-loss and weight-management success at center locations.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS PREDICTABILITY: PASS
DEBT SERVICE: PASS
RETURN ON EQUITY: PASS
RETURN ON TOTAL CAPITAL: PASS
FREE CASH FLOW: PASS
USE OF RETAINED EARNINGS: PASS
SHARE REPURCHASE: NEUTRAL
INITIAL RATE OF RETURN: PASS
EXPECTED RETURN: PASS
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Warren Buffett changed from 68% to 82% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. is an automotive retailer in the United States. The Company owns and operates approximately 88 dealerships, consisting of 107 franchises, representing 31 domestic and foreign brands of vehicles. It also operates approximately 25 collision repair centers. In addition, it owns and operates two standalone used vehicle stores in Florida. Its stores offer automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. Its new vehicle revenues include new vehicle sales and lease transactions arranged by dealerships with third-party financial institutions.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS PREDICTABILITY: PASS
DEBT SERVICE: PASS
RETURN ON EQUITY: PASS
RETURN ON TOTAL CAPITAL: FAIL
FREE CASH FLOW: PASS
USE OF RETAINED EARNINGS: PASS
SHARE REPURCHASE: PASS
INITIAL RATE OF RETURN: PASS
EXPECTED RETURN: PASS
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
PRIMERICA, INC. (PRI) is a mid-cap value stock in the Insurance (Life) industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Warren Buffett changed from 0% to 79% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Primerica Inc. (Primerica) is a distributor of financial products to middle-income households in the United States and Canada. The Company operates through three segments: Term Life Insurance, Investment and Savings Products, and Corporate and Other Distributed Products. The Term Life Insurance segment includes underwriting profits on its in-force book of term life insurance policies, net of reinsurance, which are underwritten by its life insurance company subsidiaries. The Investment and Savings Products segment includes retail and managed mutual funds, and annuities distributed through licensed broker-dealer subsidiaries and includes segregated funds, an individual annuity savings product that it underwrites in Canada through Primerica Life Insurance Company of Canada (Primerica Life Canada). In the United States, it distributes mutual fund and annuity products of various third-party companies. It also earns fees for account servicing on a subset of the mutual funds it distributes.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS PREDICTABILITY: PASS
RETURN ON EQUITY: PASS
RETURN ON ASSETS: PASS
FREE CASH FLOW: PASS
USE OF RETAINED EARNINGS: PASS
SHARE REPURCHASE: PASS
INITIAL RATE OF RETURN: PASS
EXPECTED RETURN: FAIL
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
CBRE GROUP INC (CBRE) is a large-cap value stock in the Real Estate Operations industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Warren Buffett changed from 77% to 85% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: CBRE Group, Inc. is a holding company that conducts all of its operations through its subsidiaries. The Company operates as a commercial real estate services and investment company. The Company operates through the segments: The Americas; Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA); Asia Pacific; Global Investment Management, and Development Services. The Company provides commercial real estate services under the CBRE brand name, investment management services under the CBRE Global Investors brand name and development services under the Trammell Crow Company brand name. The Company's business is focused on commercial property, corporate facilities, project and transaction management, tenant/occupier and property/agency leasing, capital markets solutions (property sales, commercial mortgage brokerage, loan origination and servicing) real estate investment management, valuation, development services and proprietary research.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS PREDICTABILITY: PASS
DEBT SERVICE: PASS
RETURN ON EQUITY: PASS
RETURN ON TOTAL CAPITAL: FAIL
FREE CASH FLOW: PASS
USE OF RETAINED EARNINGS: PASS
SHARE REPURCHASE: NEUTRAL
INITIAL RATE OF RETURN: PASS
EXPECTED RETURN: PASS
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
Since its inception, Validea's strategy based on Warren Buffett has returned 205.75% vs. 158.74% for the S&P 500. For more details on this strategy, click here
About Warren Buffett: Warren Buffett is considered by many to be the greatest investor of all time. As the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett has consistently outperformed the S&P 500 for decades, and in the process has become one of the world's richest men. (Forbes puts his net worth at $37 billion.) Despite his fortune, Buffett is known for living a modest lifestyle, by billionaire standards. His primary residence remains the gray stucco Nebraska home he purchased for $31,500 nearly 50 years ago, according to Forbes, and his folksy Midwestern manner and penchant for simple pleasures -- a cherry Coke, a good burger, and a good book are all near the top of the list -- have been well-documented.
About Validea: Validea is aninvestment researchservice that follows the published strategies of investment legends. Validea offers both stock analysis and model portfolios based on gurus who have outperformed the market over the long-term, including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Martin Zweig. For more information about Validea, click here
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Company Description: Nordson Corporation engineers, manufactures and markets differentiated products and systems used to dispense, apply and control adhesives, coatings, polymers, sealants, biomaterials, and other fluids, to test and inspect for quality, and to treat and cure surfaces. The Company operates through the segments: The Americas; Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA); Asia Pacific; Global Investment Management, and Development Services. | For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Its stores offer automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. The Investment and Savings Products segment includes retail and managed mutual funds, and annuities distributed through licensed broker-dealer subsidiaries and includes segregated funds, an individual annuity savings product that it underwrites in Canada through Primerica Life Insurance Company of Canada (Primerica Life Canada). | For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Its stores offer automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. The Investment and Savings Products segment includes retail and managed mutual funds, and annuities distributed through licensed broker-dealer subsidiaries and includes segregated funds, an individual annuity savings product that it underwrites in Canada through Primerica Life Insurance Company of Canada (Primerica Life Canada). | For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Its stores offer automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. The Company operates through three segments: Term Life Insurance, Investment and Savings Products, and Corporate and Other Distributed Products. |
28763.0 | 2020-02-11 00:00:00 UTC | Validea John Neff Strategy Daily Upgrade Report - 2/11/2020 | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/validea-john-neff-strategy-daily-upgrade-report-2-11-2020-2020-02-11 | nan | nan | The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Low PE Investor model based on the published strategy of John Neff. This strategy looks for firms with persistent earnings growth that trade at a discount relative to their earnings growth and dividend yield.
AMERICAN FINANCIAL GROUP INC (AFG) is a large-cap value stock in the Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 38% to 77% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: American Financial Group, Inc. (AFG) is a holding company engaged primarily in property and casualty insurance businesses. The Company, through Great American Insurance Group, focuses on commercial products for businesses, and is engaged in the sale of fixed and fixed-indexed annuities in the retail, financial institutions and education markets. It has four segments: Property and casualty insurance, Annuity, Run-off long-term care and life, and Other. It reports its property and casualty insurance business in specialty sub-segments, including Property and transportation, Specialty casualty and Specialty financial. AFG sells traditional fixed and fixed-indexed annuities in the retail, financial institutions and education markets through independent producers and through direct relationships with certain financial institutions. AFG also sells single premium annuities in financial institutions through direct relationships with certain banks and through independent agents and brokers.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
P/E RATIO: PASS
EPS GROWTH: PASS
FUTURE EPS GROWTH: FAIL
SALES GROWTH: PASS
TOTAL RETURN/PE: PASS
FREE CASH FLOW: FAIL
EPS PERSISTENCE: FAIL
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
COMPANHIA PARANAENSE DE ENERGIA (ADR) (ELP) is a mid-cap value stock in the Electric Utilities industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 60% to 79% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Companhia Paranaense de Energia is engaged in the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity in the Brazilian State of Parana. The Company also provides telecommunications and other services. Its segments are Power generation and transmission (GET), Power distribution and sales (DIS), Telecommunications (TEL), GAS and Holding Company (HOL). The GET segment includes the generation of electric energy from hydraulic, wind and thermal projects; the transport and transformation of the power generated by the Company, and the construction, operation and maintenance of all power transmission substations and lines. The DIS segment includes the distribution and sale of electric energy, and the operation and maintenance of the distribution infrastructure. The TEL segment includes telecommunications and general communications services. The GAS segment includes the public service of piped natural gas distribution. The HOL segment includes participation in other companies.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
P/E RATIO: PASS
EPS GROWTH: FAIL
FUTURE EPS GROWTH: PASS
SALES GROWTH: PASS
TOTAL RETURN/PE: PASS
FREE CASH FLOW: FAIL
EPS PERSISTENCE: PASS
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 60% to 79% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. is an automotive retailer in the United States. The Company owns and operates approximately 88 dealerships, consisting of 107 franchises, representing 31 domestic and foreign brands of vehicles. It also operates approximately 25 collision repair centers. In addition, it owns and operates two standalone used vehicle stores in Florida. Its stores offer automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. Its new vehicle revenues include new vehicle sales and lease transactions arranged by dealerships with third-party financial institutions.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
P/E RATIO: PASS
EPS GROWTH: PASS
FUTURE EPS GROWTH: PASS
SALES GROWTH: FAIL
TOTAL RETURN/PE: PASS
FREE CASH FLOW: FAIL
EPS PERSISTENCE: PASS
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
1ST CONSTITUTION BANCORP (FCCY) is a small-cap value stock in the Regional Banks industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 58% to 77% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: 1st Constitution Bancorp is the bank holding company for 1st Constitution Bank (the Bank). The Bank is a commercial bank, which is engaged in the business of commercial and retail banking. The Company operates through the Community Banking segment. The Community Banking segment consists of construction, commercial, retail and mortgage banking operations. As a community bank, the Bank offers a range of services (including demand, savings and time deposits and commercial and consumer/installment loans) to individuals, small businesses and not-for-profit organizations principally in the Fort Lee area of Bergen County and in Middlesex, Mercer, Somerset and Monmouth Counties of New Jersey. The Bank's Mortgage Warehouse Funding Group offers revolving lines of credit that are available to licensed mortgage banking companies (the Warehouse Line of Credit). The Bank's investment activities are classified as available for sale and held to maturity securities.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
P/E RATIO: FAIL
EPS GROWTH: PASS
FUTURE EPS GROWTH: PASS
SALES GROWTH: PASS
TOTAL RETURN/PE: PASS
FREE CASH FLOW: FAIL
EPS PERSISTENCE: FAIL
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
CB FINANCIAL SERVICES INC (CBFV) is a small-cap value stock in the Regional Banks industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 60% to 79% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: CB Financial Services, Inc. is the bank holding company for Community Bank (the Bank). The Company operates in community banking segment. The Bank offers residential and commercial real estate loans, commercial and industrial loans, and consumer loans, as well as a range of deposit products for individuals and businesses in its market area. The Bank operates through a network of approximately 20 offices in Greene, Allegheny, Washington, Fayette and Westmoreland Counties in southwestern Pennsylvania. The Company's principal lending activity is the origination of residential loans secured by one- to four-family residential properties in its local market area. In addition, the Bank offers property and casualty, commercial liability, surety and other insurance products, through its subsidiary, Exchange Underwriters, Inc. (Exchange Underwriters), an independent insurance agency.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
P/E RATIO: PASS
EPS GROWTH: PASS
FUTURE EPS GROWTH: FAIL
SALES GROWTH: PASS
TOTAL RETURN/PE: PASS
FREE CASH FLOW: FAIL
EPS PERSISTENCE: PASS
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
CENTURY COMMUNITIES INC (CCS) is a small-cap value stock in the Construction Services industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 58% to 77% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Century Communities, Inc. is engaged in the development, design, construction, marketing and sale of single-family attached and detached homes. The Company offers attached and detached homes in metropolitan areas in Colorado, Austin and San Antonio, Texas; Houston, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada, and Atlanta, Georgia. The Company's homebuilding operations are organized into six segments, which include Atlanta, Central Texas, Colorado, Houston, Nevada, and Utah. In many of its projects, in addition to building homes, it is also responsible for the entitlement and development of the underlying land. The Company acquires land for homebuilding operations with the primary intent to develop and construct single family detached or attached homes for sale on the acquired land. It builds and sells a range of home types across a variety of price points. It focuses on assisting homebuyers in obtaining financing by arranging with mortgage lenders to offer qualified buyers a range of financing options.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
P/E RATIO: PASS
EPS GROWTH: FAIL
FUTURE EPS GROWTH: PASS
SALES GROWTH: PASS
TOTAL RETURN/PE: PASS
FREE CASH FLOW: FAIL
EPS PERSISTENCE: FAIL
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
AVANGRID INC (AGR) is a large-cap growth stock in the Electric Utilities industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 58% to 77% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Avangrid, Inc. is a renewable energy and utility company. The Company operates through two segments: Networks and Renewables. The Networks segment includes all the energy transmission and distribution activities, and any other regulated activity originating in New York and Maine, and regulated electric distribution, electric transmission and gas distribution activities originating in Connecticut and Massachusetts. The Renewables segment owns, develops, constructs and operates electricity generation, including renewable and thermal generators, and associated transmission facilities. The Renewables segment includes activities relating to renewable energy, mainly wind energy generation and trading related with such activities.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
P/E RATIO: FAIL
EPS GROWTH: PASS
FUTURE EPS GROWTH: PASS
SALES GROWTH: PASS
TOTAL RETURN/PE: PASS
FREE CASH FLOW: FAIL
EPS PERSISTENCE: FAIL
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
INNOVIVA INC (INVA) is a small-cap value stock in the Biotechnology & Drugs industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 19% to 77% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Innoviva, Inc., formerly Theravance, Inc., is engaged in the development, commercialization and financial management of bio-pharmaceuticals. It focuses on the respiratory assets partnered with Glaxo Group Limited (GSK), including RELVAR/BREO ELLIPTA (fluticasone furoate (FF)/vilanterol (VI)) and ANORO ELLIPTA (umeclidinium bromide/vilanterol (UMEC/VI)). Under the Long-Acting Beta2 Agonist (LABA) Collaboration Agreement and the Strategic Alliance Agreement with GSK, the Company is eligible to receive the annual royalties from GSK on sales of RELVAR/BREO ELLIPTA. For other products combined with a LABA from the LABA collaboration, such as ANORO ELLIPTA, royalties are upward tiering and range from 6.5% to 10%. RELVAR/BREO is a once-a-day combination inhaled respiratory medicine consisting of a LABA (VI) and an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS), FF. ANORO ELLIPTA a once-daily medicine combining a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA), umeclidinium bromide (UMEC), with a LABA.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
P/E RATIO: PASS
EPS GROWTH: PASS
FUTURE EPS GROWTH: FAIL
SALES GROWTH: PASS
TOTAL RETURN/PE: PASS
FREE CASH FLOW: FAIL
EPS PERSISTENCE: FAIL
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
VIRTUS INVESTMENT PARTNERS INC (VRTS) is a small-cap value stock in the Investment Services industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 38% to 77% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (Virtus) is a provider of investment management and related services to individuals and institutions. The Company provides its products in various forms and through multiple distribution channels. Its retail products include open-end mutual funds, closed-end funds, exchange traded funds, variable insurance funds, undertakings for collective investments in transferable securities (UCITS) and separately managed accounts. Its open-end mutual funds are distributed through intermediaries. Its closed-end funds trade on the New York Stock Exchange. Its variable insurance funds are available as investment options in variable annuities and life insurance products distributed by life insurance companies. Separately managed accounts consists of intermediary programs, sponsored and distributed by unaffiliated brokerage firms, and private client accounts, which are offered to the high net-worth clients of its affiliated managers.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
P/E RATIO: FAIL
EPS GROWTH: PASS
FUTURE EPS GROWTH: PASS
SALES GROWTH: PASS
TOTAL RETURN/PE: PASS
FREE CASH FLOW: FAIL
EPS PERSISTENCE: FAIL
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
FIRST INTERNET BANCORP (INBK) is a small-cap value stock in the Regional Banks industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 58% to 77% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: First Internet Bancorp is a bank holding company that conducts its business activities through its subsidiary, First Internet Bank of Indiana (the Bank). The Company offers a complement of products and services on a nationwide basis. The Company conducts its deposit operations primarily over the Internet. The Company also offers commercial real estate (CRE) lending, including nationwide single tenant lease financing and commercial and industrial (C&I) lending, including business banking/treasury management services. The Bank provides commercial and retail banking services, with operations conducted on the Internet at www.firstib.com. It offers residential real estate loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, and consumer loans, and loans to commercial clients, which include commercial loans, commercial real estate loans, letters of credit and single tenant lease financing. The Bank's subsidiary, JKH Realty Services, LLC manages real estate owned properties.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
P/E RATIO: PASS
EPS GROWTH: PASS
FUTURE EPS GROWTH: PASS
SALES GROWTH: PASS
TOTAL RETURN/PE: FAIL
FREE CASH FLOW: FAIL
EPS PERSISTENCE: FAIL
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
COMMUNITY FINANCIAL CORP(MARYLAND) (TCFC) is a small-cap value stock in the Regional Banks industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 79% to 98% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: The Community Financial Corporation is a bank holding company. The Company owns a commercial bank, Community Bank of the Chesapeake (the Bank). Its segments include Lending Activities, Investment Activities, Sources of Funds and Subsidiary Activities. The Bank operates over 15 automated teller machines, including approximately four stand-alone locations. The Bank offers telephone and Internet banking services. The Bank is engaged in the commercial and retail banking business, including the acceptance of deposits and the origination of loans to individuals, associations, partnerships and corporations. The Bank's real estate financing consists of commercial mortgage loans, residential first and second mortgage loans, and home equity lines of credit. Its commercial lending consists of both secured and unsecured loans. It uses both traditional brokered deposits and reciprocal brokered deposits. The Company's subsidiaries include Tri-County Capital Trust I and Tri-County Capital Trust II.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
P/E RATIO: PASS
EPS GROWTH: PASS
FUTURE EPS GROWTH: PASS
SALES GROWTH: PASS
TOTAL RETURN/PE: PASS
FREE CASH FLOW: FAIL
EPS PERSISTENCE: PASS
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
Since its inception, Validea's strategy based on John Neff has returned 332.16% vs. 202.40% for the S&P 500. For more details on this strategy, click here
About John Neff: While known as the manager with whom many top managers entrusted their own money, Neff was far from the smooth-talking, high-profile Wall Streeter you might expect. He was mild-mannered and low-key, and the same might be said of the Windsor Fund that he managed for more than three decades. In fact, Neff himself described the fund as "relatively prosaic, dull, [and] conservative." There was nothing dull about his results, however. From 1964 to 1995, Neff guided Windsor to a 13.7 percent average annual return, easily outpacing the S&P 500's 10.6 percent return during that time. That 3.1 percentage point difference is huge over time -- a $10,000 investment in Windsor (with dividends reinvested) at the start of Neff's tenure would have ended up as more than $564,000 by the time he retired, more than twice what the same investment in the S&P would have yielded (about $233,000). Considering the length of his tenure, that track record may be the best ever for a manager of such a large fund.
About Validea: Validea is aninvestment researchservice that follows the published strategies of investment legends. Validea offers both stock analysis and model portfolios based on gurus who have outperformed the market over the long-term, including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Martin Zweig. For more information about Validea, click here
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. The Company, through Great American Insurance Group, focuses on commercial products for businesses, and is engaged in the sale of fixed and fixed-indexed annuities in the retail, financial institutions and education markets. Company Description: Companhia Paranaense de Energia is engaged in the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity in the Brazilian State of Parana. | For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Its stores offer automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. The Company also offers commercial real estate (CRE) lending, including nationwide single tenant lease financing and commercial and industrial (C&I) lending, including business banking/treasury management services. | For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Its stores offer automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. Company Description: CB Financial Services, Inc. is the bank holding company for Community Bank (the Bank). | For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. The Company operates through the Community Banking segment. The Company operates in community banking segment. |
28764.0 | 2020-02-11 00:00:00 UTC | Validea Joel Greenblatt Strategy Daily Upgrade Report - 2/11/2020 | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/validea-joel-greenblatt-strategy-daily-upgrade-report-2-11-2020-2020-02-11 | nan | nan | The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Earnings Yield Investor model based on the published strategy of Joel Greenblatt. This value model looks for companies with high return on capital and earnings yields.
MERIDIAN BIOSCIENCE, INC. (VIVO) is a small-cap growth stock in the Medical Equipment & Supplies industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 50% to 80% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Meridian Bioscience, Inc. is a life science company engaged in the development, manufacture, sale and distribution of diagnostic test kits for gastrointestinal, viral, respiratory and parasitic infectious diseases, and elevated blood lead levels, and the manufacture and distribution of bulk antigens, antibodies, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)/quantitative PCR (qPCR) reagents, nucleotides, competent cells and bioresearch reagents used by researchers and other diagnostic manufacturers. Its segments include Diagnostics and Life Science. The Diagnostics segment includes manufacturing operations in Cincinnati, and the sale and distribution of diagnostic test kits in the countries consisting of North, Central and South America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and other countries outside of the Americas and EMEA. The Life Science segment consists of manufacturing operations in Memphis, Tennessee; Boca Raton, Florida; London, England; Luckenwalde, Germany, and Sydney, Australia.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: FAIL
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
DHI GROUP INC (DHX) is a small-cap value stock in the Business Services industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 0% to 100% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: DHI Group, Inc. provides data, insights and employment connections through specialized services for professional communities, including technology and security clearance, financial services and energy. The Company operates through its Tech-focused segment. The Company's Tech-focused segment includes Dice, Dice Europe, ClearanceJobs, Brightmatter and eFinancialCareers. The Company sells recruitment packages, which allow customers to post jobs and source candidates through its resume databases and, in case of Dice, Dice Europe and eFinancialCareers, to utilize its Open Web search service. The Company's Website serves as online marketplaces where employers and recruiters find and recruit employees. The Company's Website offers job postings, news and content, career development and recruiting services. Its brands include Dice, Dice Europe, ClearanceJobs and eFinancialCareers.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: PASS
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
EPLUS INC. (PLUS) is a small-cap growth stock in the Software & Programming industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 70% to 80% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: ePlus inc. is a holding company. The Company is engaged in the business of selling, leasing, financing and managing information technology. It operates through two segments: technology and financing. The technology segment sells information technology (IT) hardware products, third-party software and maintenance contracts, its own and third-party professional and managed services, and its software. The financing segment operations primarily consist of the financing of information technology equipment, software and related services. Both segments sell to commercial entities, state and local governments, government contractors and educational institutions. The Company is a provider of IT solutions, which enable organizations to optimize their IT environment and supply chain processes. It delivers and integrates IT products and software from various vendors, and provides private, hybrid, and public cloud solutions.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: FAIL
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 60% to 100% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. is an automotive retailer in the United States. The Company owns and operates approximately 88 dealerships, consisting of 107 franchises, representing 31 domestic and foreign brands of vehicles. It also operates approximately 25 collision repair centers. In addition, it owns and operates two standalone used vehicle stores in Florida. Its stores offer automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. Its new vehicle revenues include new vehicle sales and lease transactions arranged by dealerships with third-party financial institutions.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
EARNINGS YIELD: NEUTRAL
RETURN ON TANGIBLE CAPITAL: NEUTRAL
FINAL RANKING: PASS
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
Since its inception, Validea's strategy based on Joel Greenblatt has returned 99.74% vs. 164.97% for the S&P 500. For more details on this strategy, click here
About Joel Greenblatt: In his 2005 bestseller The Little Book That Beats The Market, hedge fund manager Joel Greenblatt laid out a stunningly simple way to beat the market using two -- and only two -- fundamental variables. The "Magic Formula," as he called it, produced back-tested returns of 30.8 percent per year from 1988 through 2004, more than doubling the S&P 500's 12.4 percent return during that time. Greenblatt also produced exceptional returns as managing partner at Gotham Capital, a New York City-based hedge fund he founded. The firm averaged a remarkable 40 percent annualized return over more than two decades.
About Validea: Validea is aninvestment researchservice that follows the published strategies of investment legends. Validea offers both stock analysis and model portfolios based on gurus who have outperformed the market over the long-term, including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Martin Zweig. For more information about Validea, click here
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. The Life Science segment consists of manufacturing operations in Memphis, Tennessee; Boca Raton, Florida; London, England; Luckenwalde, Germany, and Sydney, Australia. Greenblatt also produced exceptional returns as managing partner at Gotham Capital, a New York City-based hedge fund he founded. | For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Company Description: Meridian Bioscience, Inc. is a life science company engaged in the development, manufacture, sale and distribution of diagnostic test kits for gastrointestinal, viral, respiratory and parasitic infectious diseases, and elevated blood lead levels, and the manufacture and distribution of bulk antigens, antibodies, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)/quantitative PCR (qPCR) reagents, nucleotides, competent cells and bioresearch reagents used by researchers and other diagnostic manufacturers. The technology segment sells information technology (IT) hardware products, third-party software and maintenance contracts, its own and third-party professional and managed services, and its software. | For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Company Description: Meridian Bioscience, Inc. is a life science company engaged in the development, manufacture, sale and distribution of diagnostic test kits for gastrointestinal, viral, respiratory and parasitic infectious diseases, and elevated blood lead levels, and the manufacture and distribution of bulk antigens, antibodies, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)/quantitative PCR (qPCR) reagents, nucleotides, competent cells and bioresearch reagents used by researchers and other diagnostic manufacturers. Its stores offer automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. | For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC. (ABG) is a small-cap value stock in the Retail (Specialty) industry. The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Earnings Yield Investor model based on the published strategy of Joel Greenblatt. Its stores offer automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, including vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, including arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, prepaid maintenance, and credit life and disability insurance. |
28765.0 | 2020-02-04 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive Group Enters Oversold Territory (ABG) | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-group-enters-oversold-territory-abg-2020-02-04 | nan | nan | Legendary investor Warren Buffett advises to be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. One way we can try to measure the level of fear in a given stock is through a technical analysis indicator called the Relative Strength Index, or RSI, which measures momentum on a scale of zero to 100. A stock is considered to be oversold if the RSI reading falls below 30.
In trading on Tuesday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) entered into oversold territory, hitting an RSI reading of 28.5, after changing hands as low as $96.425 per share. By comparison, the current RSI reading of the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is 57.4. A bullish investor could look at ABG's 28.5 RSI reading today as a sign that the recent heavy selling is in the process of exhausting itself, and begin to look for entry point opportunities on the buy side. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares:
Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $65.54 per share, with $123.445 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $96.74.
Find out what 9 other oversold stocks you need to know about »
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | In trading on Tuesday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) entered into oversold territory, hitting an RSI reading of 28.5, after changing hands as low as $96.425 per share. A bullish investor could look at ABG's 28.5 RSI reading today as a sign that the recent heavy selling is in the process of exhausting itself, and begin to look for entry point opportunities on the buy side. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares: Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $65.54 per share, with $123.445 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $96.74. | A bullish investor could look at ABG's 28.5 RSI reading today as a sign that the recent heavy selling is in the process of exhausting itself, and begin to look for entry point opportunities on the buy side. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares: Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $65.54 per share, with $123.445 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $96.74. In trading on Tuesday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) entered into oversold territory, hitting an RSI reading of 28.5, after changing hands as low as $96.425 per share. | In trading on Tuesday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) entered into oversold territory, hitting an RSI reading of 28.5, after changing hands as low as $96.425 per share. A bullish investor could look at ABG's 28.5 RSI reading today as a sign that the recent heavy selling is in the process of exhausting itself, and begin to look for entry point opportunities on the buy side. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares: Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $65.54 per share, with $123.445 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $96.74. | In trading on Tuesday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) entered into oversold territory, hitting an RSI reading of 28.5, after changing hands as low as $96.425 per share. A bullish investor could look at ABG's 28.5 RSI reading today as a sign that the recent heavy selling is in the process of exhausting itself, and begin to look for entry point opportunities on the buy side. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares: Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $65.54 per share, with $123.445 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $96.74. |
28766.0 | 2020-02-03 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) Q4 2019 Earnings Call Transcript | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-group-abg-q4-2019-earnings-call-transcript-2020-02-04 | nan | nan | Image source: The Motley Fool.
Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG)
Q4 2019 Earnings Call
Feb 03, 2020, 10:00 a.m. ET
Contents:
Prepared Remarks
Questions and Answers
Call Participants
Prepared Remarks:
Operator
Good day, and welcome to the Asbury Automotive Group Q4 and year-end 2019earnings call Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, it is now my pleasure to turn today's call over to Mr. Matt Pettoni.
Please go ahead, sir.
Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer
Thanks, operator, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Asbury Automotive Group's fourth-quarter 2019earnings call Today's call is being recorded and will be available for replay later today. The press release detailing Asbury's fourth-quarter results was issued earlier this morning and is posted on our website at asburyauto.com.
Participating with us today are David Hult, our president and chief executive officer; Dan Clara, our senior vice president of operations; and Matt Pettoni, our vice president of finance and treasurer. At the conclusion of our remarks, we will open the call up for questions, and I will be available later for any follow-up questions you might have. Before we begin, I must remind you that the discussion during the call today is likely to contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements other than those, which are historical in nature.
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All forward-looking statements are subject to significant uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those suggested by the statements. For information regarding certain of the risks that may cause actual results to differ, please see our filings with the SEC from time to time, including Form 10-K for the year ended December 2018, any subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our earnings release issued earlier today. We expressly disclaim any responsibility to update forward-looking statements. In addition, certain non-GAAP financial measures as defined under SEC rules may be discussed on this call.
As required by applicable SEC rules, we provide reconciliations of any such non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures on our website. It is my pleasure to hand the call over to our CEO David Hult. David?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, Matt, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to our fourth-quarter 2019earnings call I'd like to start by welcoming our new Senior Vice President of Operations Dan Clara. Dan has held the following positions with Asbury over the past 18 years.
He started his career selling cars, then worked his way up to general manager, then he successfully ran a market for us, and most recently, he was VP of operations for all of Asbury. Dan's serve-and-leader mentality, knowledge of our business and his passion for our vision makes him the obvious choice for this role. Now turning to our performance in the quarter and year-end results. We achieved record fourth-quarter adjusted EPS of $2.53, up 15% from prior year.
This was driven by revenue growth of 6%; gross profit growth of 7%. We also grew our parts and service gross profit 8% and grew finance and insurance by 8%. Since last quarter, we were able to bring down our new vehicle inventory by 10 days. 2019 was a record year for Asbury in a slightly down SAAR environment.
We generated $7.2 billion of revenue, retailed over 190,000 vehicles, serviced over 2 million vehicles, grew our front-end yield per vehicle 1% to $3,140, grew parts and service gross profit by 8%, decreased SG&A as a percent of gross profit by 10 basis points to 68.4%. We achieved an adjusted operating margin of 4.6%, and grew adjusted earnings per share by 12% to a record of $9.46. During 2019, we continued building out our vision of being the most guest-centric company in the automotive industry. We continue to invest in our omnichannel initiatives, which are a key part of the foundation to develop a guest-centric retail model.
We also continue to invest in our employees. We implemented industry-leading benefits to our front-line associates that we believe will enhance our long-term growth potential, while maintaining SG&A ratio at approximately the same level as last year. During 2019, we also continued our strategy of balanced capital allocation, seeking highest risk-adjusted returns through investments in our existing business, acquiring new stores and returning capital to our shareholders. We invested $57 million in our business.
We repurchased 15 million of our shares, and we acquired and integrated six stores. Now turning to 2020. We are excited to expand our footprint in Colorado by acquiring a Chrysler Jeep Dodge and Ram store. This is a well-performing store, led by a solid management team and their members.
These brands are the perfect complement to our Subaru store in this market. We've long been attracted to the Colorado market due to its business-friendly environment, moderate cost of doing business, growing population and attractive demographics. We plan to methodically build out our presence in the market, following a similar approach to what we successfully executed in Indianapolis. In addition to our acquisitions, we will continue to optimize our dealership portfolio.
Late this quarter, we plan to divest our Mississippi platform and our Nissan store in Atlanta. In total, we are divesting six dealerships; three Nissan stores, one Ford, one Toyota and one Chevrolet. And finally, we are still on track to close the acquisition of Park Place in late March. As we mentioned in December, this transaction will increase Asbury's geographic mix to 36% of revenue derived from the attractive Texas market and transform our overall portfolio to approximately 50% of revenue derived from luxury brands.
The professionalism and passion of Park Place team members built a national brand known for delivering exceptional guest experience. We believe that combining what Park Place does best with what Asbury does best, will drive significant shareholder value, and it'll bring us closer to achieving our vision to become the most guest-centric automotive retailer. After the successful completion of the Park Place acquisition, our main capital allocation focus in 2020 will be to delever, and we are targeting to be around 3.5 times by the end of the year. I will now hand the call over to Matt to discuss our financial performance.
Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer
Thanks, David. Overall, compared to the prior-year fourth quarter, revenue increased by 6%, gross profit increased by 7%, gross margin of 15.9% was 10 basis points higher than last year. SG&A as a percentage of gross profit increased 10 basis points to 68.3%. Adjusted operating margin increased 10 basis points to 4.6%.
Adjusted income from operations increased by 6% and adjusted EPS increased by 15% to $2.53. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2019 was adjusted for a $7.1 million pre-tax charge for franchise right impairments or $0.27 per diluted share, a $0.6 million pre-tax charge for real estate-related charges or $0.03 per diluted share and a $0.6 million pre-tax gain from a legal settlement or $0.03 per diluted share. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2018 was adjusted for a $3.7 million pre-tax charge for franchise right impairments or $0.14 per diluted share. Our performance this quarter was impacted by a single midline import brand.
This brand alone negatively impacted earnings per share by approximately $0.10. In addition, we incurred costs associated with the Park Place transaction of approximately $0.07 per share in Q4 2019, mainly related to accounting and legal fees. These were not adjusted in our numbers. Our effective tax rate was 23.8% for the quarter, compared to 25.3% in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Looking at expenses. SG&A as a percentage of gross profit for the quarter was 68.3%, an increase of 10 basis points over last year. With respect to capital deployed, during the quarter, we did not repurchase any shares as our focus was on preparing for the Park Place transaction. Our remaining share repurchase authorization stands at $66 million.
In 2019, we invested $57 million in our existing business through capital expenditures and real estate acquisitions, returned $15 million to shareholders through share buyback activity, and we acquired six new stores. At the end of the quarter, our total leverage ratio stood at 2.9 times, and our net leverage ratio stood at 2.2 times, in line with our leverage last quarter. Our floor plan interest expense decreased by $1.3 million over the prior-year quarter, driven by a decrease in inventory levels and lower interest rates. From a liquidity perspective, we ended the quarter with $4 million in cash, $132 million available in floor plan offset accounts, $100 million available on our used vehicle line, and $237 million available on our revolving credit lines.
Before I pass the call over to Dan, I would like to make a few comments regarding our expectations for 2020, excluding the Park Place transaction. We are planning our business for a declining SAAR with an expectation of approximately 16.5 million units. We expect front-end yield per vehicle to remain stable with any pressure on vehicle margins being offset by F&I. We believe that we can continue to grow our parts and service gross profit in the mid-single-digit range.
We expect SG&A as a percentage of gross profit to be in the range of 68% to 69%. This reflects our balanced approach to SG&A with disciplined spending, while investing in our future. We expect our tax rate in 2020 to be between 25% and 26%. We are planning for capex of approximately $50 million.
This amount excludes real estate purchases and potential lease buyout opportunities that we consider financing transactions. Turning to our 2020 acquisitions and divestitures, we acquired a Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram store in the Colorado market in late January 2020 and expect this store to generate approximately $124 million in annualized revenues. We signed an agreement to acquire Park Place. We expect it to close in late March 2020 and generate approximately $1.9 billion in annualized revenues.
We signed an agreement to divest all five stores in the Mississippi market and expect it to close in March 2020. These dealerships generated approximately $334 million in annualized revenue. We signed an agreement to divest our Nissan Atlanta store and expect it to close in February 2020. This dealership generated approximately $77 million in annualized revenues.
Excluding Park Place, we expect these acquisitions and divestitures to decrease annualized revenue by $287 million. If you include the two acquisitions made in Q3 2019, we expect annualized revenue to decrease by approximately $100 million. We believe these acquisitions and divestitures will strategically make Asbury a stronger company. The acquisition of Park Place, assuming an end of March close, is expected to be accretive to 2020 earnings per share by approximately $1 to $1.25, excluding the impact of one-time transaction costs.
We expect one-time transaction costs related to the acquisition to be approximately $20 million to $25 million. These costs are mainly financing related, but also include legal, audit and other outside consulting-related fees. The Park Place transaction is expected to be funded through a combination of Asbury's existing credit facilities, cash flow from operations and committed financing arrangements. Asbury has secured committed financing, which it expects to replace with permanent financing prior to closing.
On Friday, we signed an agreement to our senior credit facility. This amendment upsizes our facilities. It will increase new vehicle floor plan from $1,040,000,000 to $1,350,000,000, increase our used line from $160 million to $200 million and increase our revolver from $250 million to $350 million. Our main focus in 2020 will be to delever.
We expect our net leverage ratio to be around 3.5 times by the end of 2020. With that, I will hand the call over to Dan to walk us through our operating performance in more detail. Dan?
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Thanks, Matt. My remarks will pertain to our same-store performance compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. Looking at new vehicles, SAAR for the quarter was at 16.9 million units, down 3% versus last year, and retail SAAR was down 2% for the quarter. Our new vehicle gross profit was down 4% from the prior-year period.
Our new unit sales decreased 5%, and the gross margin rate was 4.3%, flat from the prior year. However, we were able to grow our new vehicle gross profit per unit, $20 from the prior-year period. We saw strong growth in both luxury and domestic PVRs, but experienced some pressure in imports, mainly due to one brand. Our luxury brands saw strong growth with PVRs up $113 to $3,600, and new units up 9% from the prior-year period.
Our total new vehicle inventory, excluding inventory in held for sale, was $803 million and our days supply was 66, down one day from the prior year. Turning to used vehicles. Used retail gross profit was up 1% versus the prior-year period. Unit sales were up 10% from the prior year.
Our gross profit margin of 6.3% represents a gross profit per vehicle of $1,402, down $120 from last year. Though our gross profit per unit was down, it is important to remember that used car volume growth also drives increases in reconditioning parts and service gross profit, as well as F&I business. On average, we generate approximately $4,000 of gross profit on a used vehicle sold. This includes the used vehicle gross profit per unit, the F&I per vehicle and reconditioning gross profit per used vehicle.
Please see our Investor Relations presentation, showing the long-term trends in the growth of our overall front-end gross profit per vehicle. Our used vehicle inventory of $140 million is at 29-day supply, down five days from the prior year. This excludes inventory in held for sale. Turning to F&I.
Total F&I gross profit increased by 4% and gross profit per vehicle increased by $52 to $1,695 from the prior-year quarter. This demonstrates the professionalism and talent of our team. Note that when we think of our gross profit per vehicle, we look at the total front-end yield, which combines new, used and F&I gross profit. This provides the best view of our true profit per vehicle sold.
The front-end yield was up $7 in the quarter to over $3,200. This is up $650 since 2003. Please see our IR presentation for the historical trend. Turning to parts and service.
Our parts and service revenue increased 5% and gross profit increased 4%. This was achieved with a 4% increase in customer pay, a 3% increase in reconditioning and a 5% increase in warranty. And now an update on our omnichannel initiative. Since investing in this strategy, we have seen strong growth.
Our PUSHSTART online sales for the first time now represents 10% of total retail sales in the quarter. We continue to grow traffic utilizing our digital parts and service scheduling tool. And we reached a record of 140,000 online service appointments this quarter, up 23% from the prior year. We continue to make great progress implementing our dealership of the future at our pilot store in North Carolina.
Based on reviews, customers appreciate the transparency and speed of transaction. We have completed several hundred transactions in 45 minutes, with several more completed in less time, as little as 36 minutes. And in fixed operations, we have been able to decrease cycle time by 32%. We calculate service cycle time from when we accept the keys from our guests to when we hand them back.
In addition to our omnichannel strategy, an important part of our continued success is our people. As previously announced, at the beginning of 2019, we've put together an industry-leading benefits package for our frontline associates, including premium free healthcare for our tenure frontline team members that impact the guest experience, equity grants. education grants, a four-day work week, extend their vacation time and paid maternity leave. This enhanced benefits package is continuing to have a favorable impact on both recruiting and retention.
In conclusion, I would like to take this opportunity to express appreciation to all our teammates in the field and our support center who continue to produce best-in-class performance. And I would also like to welcome all of our new teammates in Colorado. We will now turn the call over to the operator and take your questions. Operator?
Questions & Answers:
Operator
[Operator instructions] Our first question will be from Rick Nelson with Stephens Inc.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst
Thanks. Good morning. I wanted to ask you, David or Matt, how we should think about SG&A to gross, incorporating the Park Place acquisition? And how you're thinking about omnichannel investments in 2020? And would those be deployed, the wholesale into Park Place?
Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer
Sure, Rick. This is Matt. For Asbury's SG&A, we're guiding to 68% to 69% for the year. With the acquisition of Park Place, being that it's 10 luxury dealerships, we would expect over the next year to two years for their SG&A to be very similar to ours, if not better, when we combine both of them.
Naturally, for the first year, as we get in and as we begin to incorporate the best of what they do with the best of what we do, it'll take us a little while to incorporate and develop and apply all those synergies combined back offices and really bring the two companies together, but we would expect the SG&A over the next year or two to be better than ours due to the fact that they're large luxury stores.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah, Matt. And Rick, just to touch on your question about our omnichannel initiative, that's continuing to grow and steady and same investments will be made in 2020, probably a little bit additional, which will absorb without noticing it in our SG&A. We made some material increases in our numbers in the fourth quarter with it. And we're excited with our software partners and seeing new developments coming in 2020 to enhance it even further.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst
Great. Thanks for that. The acquisition in Denver, was that something that you had in the works prior to Park Place? And I'm curious about your acquisition appetite now with Park Place coming into the fold.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. It was similar in timing. We started conversations with the folks in Colorado similar to the same time as the Park Place folks. It's a one-store acquisition.
Again, it fits our criteria, well run, great return. We think it's a nice tuck in. And it didn't really do anything from a leverage ratio standpoint doing the acquisition. So we move forward with it and thought it was a nice accretive deal for our market.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst
And your appetite for doing additional deals like that with Park Place?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. I would say that the main focus for 2020 is delevering and getting our costs down and getting our leverage ratio back to our comfort zone. I don't think you'll see much in 2020, but our focus is really paying down debt. Certainly, soon after that, we'll be looking hard at the Colorado market and looking for opportunities.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst
All right. Thanks for that. And on the divestiture side, were those stores are profitable? And if you could speak to the multiple? And are they sold at a gain?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. The best way I would phrase it is, we purchased the Colorado stores at a lower multiple than what we sold the Mississippi stores for. So the deal made sense to us. We looked at Mississippi as we have a lot of great long-tenured teammates there.
But our returns haven't been what the company averages are. And it's been difficult from our standpoint to professionally manage that market to the level that we think is a good deal for our shareholders. We think this was an opportunity for us to sell it to a private cap dealer that will probably have better success with it and for us to reinvest in the areas that will be more accretive for our company, we actually believe where we'll be stronger with all the divestitures. The Nissan store in Atlanta was a big investment in capex a while back and incentives were different and things were going on differently with the brand.
It has not been a well-performing store lately. Nothing due to our associates there, it's just more to do with the economic circumstance with the brand right now. And we felt it made sense when we had an opportunity to get out of it and take that capital deployed in better areas.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst
OK, great. Finally, if I could ask you, to follow-up on that. Nissan remains a headwind at $0.10, you called out this quarter. Is there any light at the tunnel? Any changes in the way they're compensating dealers to hit targets?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Every manufacturer like every dealer has their ups and downs in their cycles. I don't see it right now. I'm sure they'll figure it out. They're bright people.
They have good products coming. So eventually, they'll figure it out. We looked at it from a standpoint of our overall portfolio. And then maybe we were too heavily invested in the brand, and this made more sense to divest.
And really, in the last 12 months, we've divested of four Nissan dealerships.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst
Great. Thanks a lot, and good luck.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, Rick.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question will be from John Murphy with Bank of America.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
Good morning, guys. Just a first question. I mean, obviously, you're kind of alluding to the new vehicle market remaining under pressure from a volume perspective and profitability is OK, although you did a pretty good job on it in the quarter. As you look at growing the used and parts and service business really structurally, I'm just curious how much more room you think there is.
And if we think about the age bucket that you're focused on, how wait or how old can you go in the age bucket to potentially grow those businesses?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
John, this is David. I'll do my best at tackling that one. I would tell you, when you think about -- and I've said this before, the average dealer in the United States retains less than 55% of the service work for every car that they sell. So upside potential across the industry is huge.
The logical question is, why aren't you growing at double-digit rates if there's that much capacity out there? It's a very competitive market space. Technicians are at a premium. The amount of technicians you add to your staff have a direct impact on the growth of the business, so to speak. I would tell you, from our standpoint, the software that we've implemented a few years ago, we're able to communicate and be more transparent with our customers.
We're texting them their service bills, their service work, their NPIs that are done and texting them a link to pay their bill and handle things that way. So we're faster, more transparent, and we think we're really set up for the future. So I would tell you, we could keep growing at mid-single-digit numbers for years. And there's tremendous potential out there.
And then I'll give you my own personal opinion, which where electrification is going. I actually see the OEM or the dealer body, service retention numbers going up. So I think you're going to get the normal incremental lift, and then you're going to -- as the electrification comes in, it's going to really push the retention up even higher for the dealer body. So I think it's great.
On the preowned side, you're only dip in preowned when SAAR comes down is acquiring vehicles. Most dealers get their vehicles from customers trading in their vehicles. And when you purchase cars or have to purchase cars for your sole inventory, so to speak, your margins are going to be a lot more compressed. We're very focused on this and really trying to connect more directly with the customers whether they're buying or not buying to acquire their trade in.
And I would say, that's kind of the lever that we're mainly focused on right now, from an acquisition standpoint, on preowned.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question will be from Bret Jordan with Jefferies.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Good morning. This is Mark Jordan on for Bret. Thinking about the used retail segment performed well during the quarter, highlighted by some strong growth in units. Can you talk about what is driving that growth?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. This is David, Mark. I would tell you, the first half of the year, we underperformed in preowned and weren't as focused on as we should have been, and we've really been more focused on it in the fourth quarter. And I would say, there's a lot to selling more vehicles.
Inventory aging, wholesale losses, reconditioning dollars, finance dollars, there's a lot to think about when doing it. So that growth that -- what we're most proud about, it really came through CPO vehicles. So we're not out buying a lot of cars. We're just keeping a lot of cars internally, getting a lot from our OEM partners.
Our CPO sales in the quarter alone, on a same-store basis, were up 16%. So we're up 10% overall, but 16% on CPO. So we see CPO as a really value option for our guests and something that we're going to continue to take advantage of. And we also think it's a differentiator between us and the independents that can offer these same CPO products.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
OK, great. And speaking of those CPO volumes, would that be the main driver of the used retail GPU erosion during the quarter?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah, I would say, not necessarily, no. I would say, it's a little bit more of a focus with some of the brands to increase our volume. And sometimes, when you increase volume that much, PVR takes a little bit of a hit. Again, generally, from our peer group, we tend to be at the top of our peer group for used car margin, except one, I believe, and I think they put their reconditioning dollars in the PVR.
So we're maintaining what we think is still based upon our peers a healthy margin, certainly could be better. But again, we also look at that parts and service reconditioning dollars in the F&I dollars. And when you think about an overall profit on a used car of around $4,000, that to us is pretty healthy.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
OK, great. Thank you very much.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question will be from Armintas Sinkevicius with Morgan Stanley.
Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Great. Thank you for taking the question. For the new vehicle side, GPUs were quite strong. You mentioned luxury as a tailwind, Nissan continues to be a headwind.
Was it just really the mix toward luxury that drove strength in new GPU? Or is there something else that we should be thinking of?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
We start in domestic as well. I believe our PVR in domestic was up $200 a car or a little bit over $200 a car in the quarter. So we definitely were backwards in domestic volume, but traded a little bit of that for PVR. So to be up $200 to us was significant.
But the pressure was midline import.
Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
OK. And then on a -- was it just more discipline? Or how are the incentives structured today? And how are they during the quarter just to be thinking about going forward?
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Good morning, Armintas. This is Dan Clara. The incentives of some of the midline imports, some of those changed quite a bit from previous quarter year. But overall, I think that we saw a little bit more incentives being provided down from the OEMs.
And for the month of January, it seems pretty consistent.
Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
OK.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Specifically, on the domestic side, we've made decisions with some of the brands not to chase the volume and work on our margin and some of them had fairly good incentives out there, again, not to chase volume, but more tied to different things around CSI and other things. And we were able to capture most of that money, which really increased our PVR.
Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
And then on the parts and services, mid-single-digit growth into next year, can you walk us through some of the puts and takes? How are we thinking about customer pay versus warranty versus reconditioning in order to bridge to get to that mid-single-digit growth?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. I would say, customer pay is going to ebb and flow. It's a little seasonal depending upon the number of days in a month and how it all pans out. But I would say, months will travel between 5% and 10% growth in CP.
Warranty is very difficult to predict. So we tend to look at it from a flat basis and then see where it ends up. Sometimes you're way off in either direction, but it's really hard to predict warranty. And internals, kind of like the fourth quarter, we're looking at internal gross profit growing in the low single digits from a year-over-year perspective, which gets us -- all baked in, get us to mid-single digits.
Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
OK, much appreciated.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question will be from Chris Bottiglieri with Wolfe Research.
Jake Moser -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst
Hey. This is Jake Moser on for Chris. Thanks for taking the question. So by our math, it looked like PUSHSTART had kind of stalled around 8% of units for a few quarters in a row.
So that jumped to 10%.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Correct.
Jake Moser -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst
Pretty impressive. Can you talk about what you might have done differently to reaccelerate adoption there?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. I would tell you the biggest single change that took place is, was in the conversion. The traffic volume on the tool is large. The conversion is what's growing.
And I mentioned this a quarter or two ago, we created a loan marketplace and we're the first dealer group to do it. There may be others at this point, I'm not aware of. But basically, it's like a rocket mortgage like experience the customer to traditional car dealership, they felt that a credit application online. It comes over as a lead.
The dealer has to submit the application and get back to the consumer. We've created a loan marketplace with the large lenders that we have. So when that consumer is filling out the credit application online, within 30 to 45 seconds, they're seeing right back from the lenders, what they'll do for them rates and terms and everything. So that transparency has really helped our conversion rate.
Jake Moser -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst
Gotcha. That's helpful. And then just following up. I'm not sure if you've talked about this in the past, but how does PUSHSTART adoption compare between new unit sales and used unit sales?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
So it's interesting. We haven't talked about it lately. When we launched the tool, our expectation was it would be a majority of preowned and low on the new end side. In the beginning, it was just the opposite.
There was a lot of new cars. What I would call, commodity, fast-moving, low-margin cars, and it was a smaller percent in used. It's actually now flipped, just the opposite, where a larger portion of the sales are coming through preowned than they are new car.
Jake Moser -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst
All right, really interesting. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question will be from Ryan Sigdahl with Craig-Hallum Capital Group.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Hey, guys. Congrats on the good quarter. Just a couple from us. So one, have you mentioned what the pro forma leverage ratio will be kind of Q1 after the transaction of Park Place, what your gross in that leverage will be?
Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer
This is Matt. It should be right around 4 times.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Great. And then secondly, kind of on the omnichannel, just piggybacking off of that. What trends have you seen, I guess, what percent are home delivery versus pickup in store? And then kind of how those trends progress over the last several quarters?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
It really hasn't moved much. It's still running close to 80% pickup, not delivery. And we kind of expected the opposite where these folks were doing the transaction online, but really what it comes down to is cars are complex. I think they want to come to the location where they're buying it from.
They want to meet the people, they want to meet the people in the parts and service area they're going to service their vehicles. And they really want a professional delivery for someone to go over their car well. I mean as we all know, nowadays, there's so much technology in cars. It takes a while to go through that professionally.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
And just one follow-up on that. You mentioned kind of meet the team and whatnot. Is the retention for parts and service any different from the PUSHSTART omnichannel customers as it is for everyone else or too early to tell?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
It's not too early to tell. It's trending about the same, maybe a little bit higher, but I'll be honest, it's more to do with the geographic area where they're living. But if it's a more transient area, it's a little bit lower. And for the secondary markets and less transient areas, it's trending a little bit higher.
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Great. That's it from me. Thanks, guys. Good luck.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question will be from Rajat Gupta with JP Morgan.
Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Thanks for taking my questions, and congrats on the quarter. And congrats, Dan, on your appointment as well.
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Thank you.
Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Just wanted to start off just following up on the Nissan question earlier. Nissan recently announced that they might be scaling back their U.S. operations. You announced a couple of store divestitures.
Do you think we could expect more in the near term, just on the Nissan front? And then following up on that, just on the leverage target for the year for 3.5 times, does that anticipate any further divestitures or not? And I have a follow-up. Thanks.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. If we miss anything, Rajat, please bring it back. It's very difficult to predict the future. Our job is to look at what's the best way to deploy capital and what's going to give the strongest returns for our shareholders and, strategically, what's going to balance our company to be stronger in the future.
We think the acquisition of Park Place, what we're doing in Denver, the divestitures in Mississippi, in Atlanta truly make Asbury a stronger company overall, but certainly no one can predict the future. Nissan is a good manufacturer. They make a good product. They're a little bit behind others just that the timing cycle with new product coming.
So when their new product comes, I'm sure they'll get a spring back. They've had some change in management teams over the last year to 18 months. I think there's a lot of factors that come into play for them. But I'm sure they'll figure it out, and I'm sure they'll get back on track.
Because, again, it's a quality company and they make a good product. It's just for us with what's going on right now. This seems to be strategically the best move for us. And when you look across this with our peer groups, we percentage-wise floated a little bit higher with the brand.
And having the opportunity to change the mix, the luxury, the way we are with very large, profitable stores, it seemed to make the most sense at that time.
Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer
Rajat, this is Matt. Concerning the leverage, so we'll start off at about 4 times. And mainly through free cash flow generation, we'll be able to get down to 3.5 times by the end of the year. So no divestitures.
Because we're buying such high-quality assets, our free cash flow generation will be very big. And the majority of that is going to go down to paying down debt, which we believe will be able to get to right around 3.5 times by the end of the year.
Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Got it. And just on the Nissan, the $0.10 headwind that you saw in the fourth quarter, I mean, assuming we'll continue to get a little bit of that in the next couple of quarters before you start lapping that, how should we think about just the margins for import in the near term?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. So when you think about it, from our perspective, we find out about the February incentives at the beginning of February. We don't know what they are in January, and we certainly don't have a clue what they're going to be in March. I would tell you from what we can see right now, I don't see anything materially changing.
However, I'm sure at some point in time, they'll come up with something that makes sense to get the volume going again and get profitability back. I just couldn't tell you when that is.
Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Got it. And then just on the 2020 earnings on these bridge puts and takes, you've talked about parts and services in new vehicles. I mean you've given a little color on that side, and used vehicle volumes seem pretty healthy. I mean any color on how should we think about F&I? And then even on the used vehicle side, I mean, from an overall gross profit perspective, like, how should we expect 2020 to turn out? I mean just trying to get a broad overall earnings ratio.
Thanks.
Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer
Rajat, this is Matt. So our guidance, the way we're thinking about it for 2020 is we guided to our front-end yield to be slightly up. Typically, what we've seen is margins pullback, but we've been able to more than offset it with really strong growth in our F&I, and that's the way we've been really trying to think about it and look at it because of what we've seen over the past couple of years is that that F&I growth has really outperformed the new and used car margins. We actually put a really good slide in our IR deck that takes a look at the new vehicle PVRs all the way back to 2003.
And it's really interesting because you see the front-end yield going from about $2,900, all the way up to $3,150 and really interesting is that we added reconditioning in. So you can see how that trade-in reconditioning work really adds to our gross profit. That's gone from about $3,160 to all the way up to about $3,800. So we're trying to refocus the way we think about our margins to really look at it on a front-end yield, and we're guiding to up on the front-end yield.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Rajat, I would say, this is David, generally speaking about operations, we believe that we can control parts and service, F&I and used cars and not so much new cars. We also believe that 2020, based on the way we see it today, we should have some incremental lift and we're very hopeful for a solid 2020.
Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Great. Good luck. Thank you so much.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question will be from Stephanie Benjamin with SunTrust.
Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst
Hi, good morning. Thanks for the question. I wanted to circle back on the used environment a little bit. Maybe you could speak a bit about just competition and filling the need for any kind of stepped up ad spending or anything.
I think the consumer continues to hold up nicely. It's a nice used vehicle market, so maybe kind of talk about how you plan to continue to have nice growth in that standpoint. Any competition or investments that you're seeing just as you look to 2020, that would be helpful. Thanks.
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Good morning, Stephanie. This is Dan Clara. The used car market from a competitive standpoint, I don't think that it's changed drastically. We do feel that there is still the opportunity to grow.
As in any business, we have some of the bottom performers, and that's what we're focusing on. And we believe that we can achieve improvement in those stores. From a credit perspective, that their credit seems pretty healthy. We are looking at lenders potentially getting a little bit, but very, very little stricter on providing or asking for STIFs on your secondary market.
But overall, it is very, very healthy.
Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer
And just as a follow-up, our subprime is between 8% and 10% of our overall business.
Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst
Great. No, that's really helpful. And then I guess just going back on -- from an investment standpoint and this ties a bit to the -- a lot of your online capabilities as well, just your ability to kind of gain share so much of the consumers starting online, and are you finding that as more and more of the business with your peers and those that they used, the used players are moving more online? Are you seeing price transparency is picking up? Are you having to invest more to make sure you're popping up in search engines? If anything there if that's changed? Or if it's kind of the status quo you've seen in the last year?
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Sure. I would tell you that one of our strengths is our marketing department. We generally have the lowest cost per car for ad dollars spent. And we're growing traffic year over year.
And that's completely a credit to them. From a used car perspective and in pricing, it's been this way for a few years where it's similar to new. Everyone has market information. The markets kind of dictate what the prices are and what the values are.
To us, it's not just about selling a car. We don't see the car. We kind of think how much money are we investing and where is the return. And we look at the three areas: what can we make with finance with this car, what can we make in the service department and where is the margin going to be upfront? So again, it's not just growing volume, but it's thoughtfully growing it to make sure that there's a return there on the invested capital.
But that's essentially -- our marketing is -- we're very proud of it, it's very strong, it's very efficient and it continues to grow. And naturally, if the traffic wasn't growing, we would certainly be spending more dollars because traffic is what generates our business.
Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst
All right. All very helpful. Thank you so much.
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question will be from John Murphy with Bank of America.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
I apologize, my line dropped earlier. Just two quick follow-ups. First, I don't know if you guys have discussed the opportunity on floor plan in 2020, both from a sizing of inventory plus the rate benefit. I'm just curious if you could give us some insight there as how you're thinking about floor plan in 2020.
Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer
John, this is Matt. We do expect mainly to the decrease in LIBOR rates to see our floor plan expense decreased. And as we talked about earlier, at the beginning of the year, our inventory was really high. We were able to do a really nice job at the back half of the year getting it down.
So we would expect to see into next year that the two-pronged benefit of lower rates and the decrease in inventory levels so it should be a nice tailwind into 2020.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
OK. That's helpful. And then just one other question. You may have covered this, and we've talked about it in the past.
But on recon, on used vehicle sales, I mean what is the average dollar that revenue and gross that you're getting on the recon of the used vehicles you're selling?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
It generally runs about $1,000 to $1,200 from a gross perspective and we recognize that margin at 100%. But John, again, because of the differences in brands, it can literally -- a low and a high can be anywhere from $600 to $2,000.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
Got it. And do you think that would roughly be something that would be reasonably consistent going forward? Or might there be an opportunity, maybe as you get into a little bit older vehicles or maybe less of an opportunity, how do you think about that?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
No, I don't see that number changing at all. It may actually increase a little bit over time, dollars wise, on the complexity of the cars. Again, we all know that the average age of the car is over 11 years. Anything that old needs a good -- a fair amount of work.
So I don't see that changing.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
Great. Thank you very much.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you. This concludes today's discussion. We appreciate your participation on the call today. Have a great day.
Operator
[Operator signoff]
Duration: 52 minutes
Call participants:
Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Jake Moser -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst
Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst
More ABG analysis
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG) Q4 2019 Earnings Call Feb 03, 2020, 10:00 a.m. Operator [Operator signoff] Duration: 52 minutes Call participants: Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Jake Moser -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. The acquisition of Park Place, assuming an end of March close, is expected to be accretive to 2020 earnings per share by approximately $1 to $1.25, excluding the impact of one-time transaction costs. | Operator [Operator signoff] Duration: 52 minutes Call participants: Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Jake Moser -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG) Q4 2019 Earnings Call Feb 03, 2020, 10:00 a.m. We generated $7.2 billion of revenue, retailed over 190,000 vehicles, serviced over 2 million vehicles, grew our front-end yield per vehicle 1% to $3,140, grew parts and service gross profit by 8%, decreased SG&A as a percent of gross profit by 10 basis points to 68.4%. | Operator [Operator signoff] Duration: 52 minutes Call participants: Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Jake Moser -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG) Q4 2019 Earnings Call Feb 03, 2020, 10:00 a.m. Participating with us today are David Hult, our president and chief executive officer; Dan Clara, our senior vice president of operations; and Matt Pettoni, our vice president of finance and treasurer. | Operator [Operator signoff] Duration: 52 minutes Call participants: Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Clara -- Senior Vice President of Operations Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Jake Moser -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst Ryan Sigdahl -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG) Q4 2019 Earnings Call Feb 03, 2020, 10:00 a.m. With the acquisition of Park Place, being that it's 10 luxury dealerships, we would expect over the next year to two years for their SG&A to be very similar to ours, if not better, when we combine both of them. |
28767.0 | 2020-01-09 00:00:00 UTC | Relative Strength Alert For Asbury Automotive Group | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/relative-strength-alert-for-asbury-automotive-group-2020-01-09 | nan | nan | Legendary investor Warren Buffett advises to be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. One way we can try to measure the level of fear in a given stock is through a technical analysis indicator called the Relative Strength Index, or RSI, which measures momentum on a scale of zero to 100. A stock is considered to be oversold if the RSI reading falls below 30.
In trading on Thursday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) entered into oversold territory, hitting an RSI reading of 27.8, after changing hands as low as $100.01 per share. By comparison, the current RSI reading of the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is 70.8. A bullish investor could look at ABG's 27.8 RSI reading today as a sign that the recent heavy selling is in the process of exhausting itself, and begin to look for entry point opportunities on the buy side. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares:
Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $65.54 per share, with $123.445 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $100.93.
Find out what 9 other oversold stocks you need to know about »
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | In trading on Thursday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) entered into oversold territory, hitting an RSI reading of 27.8, after changing hands as low as $100.01 per share. A bullish investor could look at ABG's 27.8 RSI reading today as a sign that the recent heavy selling is in the process of exhausting itself, and begin to look for entry point opportunities on the buy side. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares: Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $65.54 per share, with $123.445 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $100.93. | A bullish investor could look at ABG's 27.8 RSI reading today as a sign that the recent heavy selling is in the process of exhausting itself, and begin to look for entry point opportunities on the buy side. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares: Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $65.54 per share, with $123.445 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $100.93. In trading on Thursday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) entered into oversold territory, hitting an RSI reading of 27.8, after changing hands as low as $100.01 per share. | In trading on Thursday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) entered into oversold territory, hitting an RSI reading of 27.8, after changing hands as low as $100.01 per share. A bullish investor could look at ABG's 27.8 RSI reading today as a sign that the recent heavy selling is in the process of exhausting itself, and begin to look for entry point opportunities on the buy side. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares: Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $65.54 per share, with $123.445 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $100.93. | In trading on Thursday, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) entered into oversold territory, hitting an RSI reading of 27.8, after changing hands as low as $100.01 per share. A bullish investor could look at ABG's 27.8 RSI reading today as a sign that the recent heavy selling is in the process of exhausting itself, and begin to look for entry point opportunities on the buy side. The chart below shows the one year performance of ABG shares: Looking at the chart above, ABG's low point in its 52 week range is $65.54 per share, with $123.445 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $100.93. |
28768.0 | 2019-12-12 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive To Acquire Certain Assets Of Park Place Dealerships | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-to-acquire-certain-assets-of-park-place-dealerships-2019-12-12 | nan | nan | (RTTNews) - Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) has agreed to acquire certain assets of Park Place Dealerships for $1 billion, excluding vehicle inventory. Park Place, a luxury dealer group, has a mix of large dealerships with revenue comprised of 38% Mercedes-Benz, 32% Lexus, 11% Jaguar/Land Rover, 7% Porsche, 4% Volvo, and 8% other premier luxury brands.
"Park Place is highly regarded as one of the best and most efficient operators of luxury stores in the industry. Their portfolio of stores comes with a strong base of loyal clients and 2,100 long-term team members throughout the high growth Dallas/Fort Worth market. This acquisition will transform our total portfolio to 50% luxury stores and add approximately $2 billion in expected annualized revenues."
Asbury expects the acquisition of Park Place to be accretive to 2020 earnings per share by approximately $1.00 to 1.25, excluding the impact of transaction costs. The company also expects to incur pre-tax costs associated with the transaction of approximately $0.05 to $0.10 per share in the fourth quarter of 2019.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | (RTTNews) - Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) has agreed to acquire certain assets of Park Place Dealerships for $1 billion, excluding vehicle inventory. Their portfolio of stores comes with a strong base of loyal clients and 2,100 long-term team members throughout the high growth Dallas/Fort Worth market. Asbury expects the acquisition of Park Place to be accretive to 2020 earnings per share by approximately $1.00 to 1.25, excluding the impact of transaction costs. | (RTTNews) - Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) has agreed to acquire certain assets of Park Place Dealerships for $1 billion, excluding vehicle inventory. This acquisition will transform our total portfolio to 50% luxury stores and add approximately $2 billion in expected annualized revenues." Asbury expects the acquisition of Park Place to be accretive to 2020 earnings per share by approximately $1.00 to 1.25, excluding the impact of transaction costs. | (RTTNews) - Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) has agreed to acquire certain assets of Park Place Dealerships for $1 billion, excluding vehicle inventory. Park Place, a luxury dealer group, has a mix of large dealerships with revenue comprised of 38% Mercedes-Benz, 32% Lexus, 11% Jaguar/Land Rover, 7% Porsche, 4% Volvo, and 8% other premier luxury brands. This acquisition will transform our total portfolio to 50% luxury stores and add approximately $2 billion in expected annualized revenues." | (RTTNews) - Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) has agreed to acquire certain assets of Park Place Dealerships for $1 billion, excluding vehicle inventory. Park Place, a luxury dealer group, has a mix of large dealerships with revenue comprised of 38% Mercedes-Benz, 32% Lexus, 11% Jaguar/Land Rover, 7% Porsche, 4% Volvo, and 8% other premier luxury brands. "Park Place is highly regarded as one of the best and most efficient operators of luxury stores in the industry. |
28769.0 | 2019-10-22 00:00:00 UTC | Tuesday Sector Laggards: Home Furnishings & Improvement, Auto Dealerships | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/tuesday-sector-laggards%3A-home-furnishings-improvement-auto-dealerships-2019-10-22 | nan | nan | In trading on Tuesday, home furnishings & improvement shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1.5%. Helping drag down the group were shares of Tile Shop Holdings (TTS), down about 66.9% and shares of Container Store (TCS) down about 1.2% on the day.
Also lagging the market Tuesday are auto dealerships shares, down on the day by about 1.4% as a group, led down by Asbury Automotive Group (ABG), trading lower by about 8.2% and Lithia Motors (LAD), trading lower by about 5.5%.
VIDEO: Tuesday Sector Laggards: Home Furnishings & Improvement, Auto Dealerships
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Also lagging the market Tuesday are auto dealerships shares, down on the day by about 1.4% as a group, led down by Asbury Automotive Group (ABG), trading lower by about 8.2% and Lithia Motors (LAD), trading lower by about 5.5%. In trading on Tuesday, home furnishings & improvement shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1.5%. VIDEO: Tuesday Sector Laggards: Home Furnishings & Improvement, Auto Dealerships The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Also lagging the market Tuesday are auto dealerships shares, down on the day by about 1.4% as a group, led down by Asbury Automotive Group (ABG), trading lower by about 8.2% and Lithia Motors (LAD), trading lower by about 5.5%. In trading on Tuesday, home furnishings & improvement shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1.5%. VIDEO: Tuesday Sector Laggards: Home Furnishings & Improvement, Auto Dealerships The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Also lagging the market Tuesday are auto dealerships shares, down on the day by about 1.4% as a group, led down by Asbury Automotive Group (ABG), trading lower by about 8.2% and Lithia Motors (LAD), trading lower by about 5.5%. In trading on Tuesday, home furnishings & improvement shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1.5%. VIDEO: Tuesday Sector Laggards: Home Furnishings & Improvement, Auto Dealerships The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Also lagging the market Tuesday are auto dealerships shares, down on the day by about 1.4% as a group, led down by Asbury Automotive Group (ABG), trading lower by about 8.2% and Lithia Motors (LAD), trading lower by about 5.5%. In trading on Tuesday, home furnishings & improvement shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1.5%. Helping drag down the group were shares of Tile Shop Holdings (TTS), down about 66.9% and shares of Container Store (TCS) down about 1.2% on the day. |
28770.0 | 2019-10-15 00:00:00 UTC | Consumer Sector Update for 10/15/2019: OMC, TSLA, ABG, WMT, MCD, DIS, CVS, KO | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/consumer-sector-update-for-10-15-2019%3A-omc-tsla-abg-wmt-mcd-dis-cvs-ko-2019-10-15 | nan | nan | Top Consumer Stocks:
WMT: +0.28%
MCD: +0.13%
DIS: +0.08%
CVS: +0.65%
KO: +0.13%
Consumer giants were gaining in Tuesday's pre-market trade.
In other sector news:
(+) Omnicom Group (OMC) was slightly higher as it reported Q3 earnings of $1.32 per diluted share Tuesday, unchanged from the prior-year period. That result matched expectations of three analysts polled by Capital IQ.
(+) Tesla (TSLA) will launch its Powerwall rechargeable lithium-ion battery stationary energy storage product in Japan next spring, Reuters reported. Tesla was recently trading higher.
(=) Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) was unchanged after it acquired Mike Shaw Subaru in Thornton, Colo., on Sept. 30.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | (=) Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) was unchanged after it acquired Mike Shaw Subaru in Thornton, Colo., on Sept. 30. In other sector news: (+) Omnicom Group (OMC) was slightly higher as it reported Q3 earnings of $1.32 per diluted share Tuesday, unchanged from the prior-year period. (+) Tesla (TSLA) will launch its Powerwall rechargeable lithium-ion battery stationary energy storage product in Japan next spring, Reuters reported. | (=) Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) was unchanged after it acquired Mike Shaw Subaru in Thornton, Colo., on Sept. 30. Consumer giants were gaining in Tuesday's pre-market trade. In other sector news: (+) Omnicom Group (OMC) was slightly higher as it reported Q3 earnings of $1.32 per diluted share Tuesday, unchanged from the prior-year period. | (=) Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) was unchanged after it acquired Mike Shaw Subaru in Thornton, Colo., on Sept. 30. Consumer giants were gaining in Tuesday's pre-market trade. In other sector news: (+) Omnicom Group (OMC) was slightly higher as it reported Q3 earnings of $1.32 per diluted share Tuesday, unchanged from the prior-year period. | (=) Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) was unchanged after it acquired Mike Shaw Subaru in Thornton, Colo., on Sept. 30. Consumer giants were gaining in Tuesday's pre-market trade. In other sector news: (+) Omnicom Group (OMC) was slightly higher as it reported Q3 earnings of $1.32 per diluted share Tuesday, unchanged from the prior-year period. |
28771.0 | 2019-09-19 00:00:00 UTC | Commit To Purchase Asbury Automotive Group At $85, Earn 5.8% Annualized Using Options | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/commit-to-purchase-asbury-automotive-group-at-%2485-earn-5.8-annualized-using-options-2019 | nan | nan | Investors eyeing a purchase of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) shares, but tentative about paying the going market price of $101.45/share, might benefit from considering selling puts among the alternative strategies at their disposal. One interesting put contract in particular, is the April 2020 put at the $85 strike, which has a bid at the time of this writing of $2.85. Collecting that bid as the premium represents a 3.4% return against the $85 commitment, or a 5.8% annualized rate of return (at Stock Options Channel we call this the YieldBoost).
Selling a put does not give an investor access to ABG's upside potential the way owning shares would, because the put seller only ends up owning shares in the scenario where the contract is exercised. And the person on the other side of the contract would only benefit from exercising at the $85 strike if doing so produced a better outcome than selling at the going market price. (Do options carry counterparty risk? This and six other common options myths debunked). So unless Asbury Automotive Group Inc sees its shares fall 16% and the contract is exercised (resulting in a cost basis of $82.15 per share before broker commissions, subtracting the $2.85 from $85), the only upside to the put seller is from collecting that premium for the 5.8% annualized rate of return.
Below is a chart showing the trailing twelve month trading history for Asbury Automotive Group Inc, and highlighting in green where the $85 strike is located relative to that history:
The chart above, and the stock's historical volatility, can be a helpful guide in combination with fundamental analysis to judge whether selling the April 2020 put at the $85 strike for the 5.8% annualized rate of return represents good reward for the risks. We calculate the trailing twelve month volatility for Asbury Automotive Group Inc (considering the last 251 trading day closing values as well as today's price of $101.45) to be 29%. For other put options contract ideas at the various different available expirations, visit the ABG Stock Options page of StockOptionsChannel.com.
In mid-afternoon trading on Thursday, the put volume among S&P 500 components was 1.39M contracts, with call volume at 1.71M, for a put:call ratio of 0.81 so far for the day, which is unusually high compared to the long-term median put:call ratio of .65. In other words, there are lots more put buyers out there in options trading so far today than would normally be seen, as compared to call buyers. Find out which 15 call and put options traders are talking about today.
Top YieldBoost Puts of the S&P 500 »
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Investors eyeing a purchase of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) shares, but tentative about paying the going market price of $101.45/share, might benefit from considering selling puts among the alternative strategies at their disposal. Selling a put does not give an investor access to ABG's upside potential the way owning shares would, because the put seller only ends up owning shares in the scenario where the contract is exercised. For other put options contract ideas at the various different available expirations, visit the ABG Stock Options page of StockOptionsChannel.com. | Selling a put does not give an investor access to ABG's upside potential the way owning shares would, because the put seller only ends up owning shares in the scenario where the contract is exercised. Investors eyeing a purchase of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) shares, but tentative about paying the going market price of $101.45/share, might benefit from considering selling puts among the alternative strategies at their disposal. For other put options contract ideas at the various different available expirations, visit the ABG Stock Options page of StockOptionsChannel.com. | Selling a put does not give an investor access to ABG's upside potential the way owning shares would, because the put seller only ends up owning shares in the scenario where the contract is exercised. Investors eyeing a purchase of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) shares, but tentative about paying the going market price of $101.45/share, might benefit from considering selling puts among the alternative strategies at their disposal. For other put options contract ideas at the various different available expirations, visit the ABG Stock Options page of StockOptionsChannel.com. | Investors eyeing a purchase of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) shares, but tentative about paying the going market price of $101.45/share, might benefit from considering selling puts among the alternative strategies at their disposal. Selling a put does not give an investor access to ABG's upside potential the way owning shares would, because the put seller only ends up owning shares in the scenario where the contract is exercised. For other put options contract ideas at the various different available expirations, visit the ABG Stock Options page of StockOptionsChannel.com. |
28772.0 | 2019-08-05 00:00:00 UTC | ABG Crosses Above Average Analyst Target | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/abg-crosses-above-average-analyst-target-2019-08-05 | nan | nan | In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $92.12, changing hands for $92.16/share. When a stock reaches the target an analyst has set, the analyst logically has two ways to react: downgrade on valuation, or, re-adjust their target price to a higher level. Analyst reaction may also depend on the fundamental business developments that may be responsible for driving the stock price higher — if things are looking up for the company, perhaps it is time for that target price to be raised.
There are 8 different analyst targets contributing to that average for Asbury Automotive Group Inc, but the average is just that — a mathematical average. There are analysts with lower targets than the average, including one looking for a price of $85.00. And then on the other side of the spectrum one analyst has a target as high as $96.00. The standard deviation is $3.681.
But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $92.12/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $92.12 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? Below is a table showing the current thinking of the analysts that cover Asbury Automotive Group Inc:
The average rating presented in the last row of the above table above is from 1 to 5 where 1 is Strong Buy and 5 is Strong Sell. This article used data provided by Zacks Investment Research via Quandl.com. Get the latest Zacks research report on ABG — FREE.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $92.12, changing hands for $92.16/share. But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $92.12/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $92.12 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? | In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $92.12, changing hands for $92.16/share. But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $92.12/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $92.12 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? | And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $92.12/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $92.12 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $92.12, changing hands for $92.16/share. But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. | In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $92.12, changing hands for $92.16/share. But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $92.12/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $92.12 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? |
28773.0 | 2019-07-27 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) Q2 2019 Earnings Call Transcript | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-group-abg-q2-2019-earnings-call-transcript-2019-07-27 | nan | nan | Image source: The Motley Fool.
Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG)
Q2 2019 Earnings Call
Jul 26, 2019, 10:00 a.m. ET
Contents:
Prepared Remarks
Questions and Answers
Call Participants
Prepared Remarks:
Operator
Good day, and welcome to the Asbury Automotive Group Q2 2019earnings call Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Matt Pettoni.
Please go ahead, sir.
Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer
Thanks, operator, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Asbury Automotive Group's second-quarter 2019earnings call Today's call is being recorded and will be available for replay later today. The press release detailing Asbury's second-quarter results was issued earlier this morning and is posted on our website at asburyauto.com. Participating with us today are David Hult, our president and chief executive officer; John Hartman, our senior vice president of operations; and Sean Goodman, our senior vice president and chief financial officer.
At the conclusion of our remarks, we will open the call up for questions, and I will be available later for any follow-up questions you might have. Before we begin, I must remind you that the discussion during the call today is likely to contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements other than those which are historical in nature. All forward-looking statements are subject to significant uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those suggested by the statements. For information regarding certain of the risks that may cause actual results to differ, please see our filings with the SEC from time to time, including our Form 10-K for the year ended December 2018, any subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our earnings release issued earlier today.
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We expressly disclaim any responsibility to update forward-looking statements. In addition, certain non-GAAP financial measures, as defined under SEC rules, may be discussed on this call. As required by applicable SEC rules, we provide reconciliations of any such non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure on our website. It is my pleasure to hand the call over to our CEO, David Hult. David?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, Matt, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to our second-quarter 2019earnings call We achieved solid results in the second quarter, with record adjusted EPS of $2.38, a 14% increase over last year. We continue to experience new vehicle margin pressure, however, we were able to grow our total front-end yield by over $50 per vehicle, grow parts and service revenue by 10%, and decrease our SG&A as a percentage of gross profit 60 basis points to 68%. We are making good progress executing on our vision to be the most guest-centric company in the automotive industry.
Our omni-channel approach is multidimensional and encompasses all aspects of the business. As a reminder, in late 2015, we began changing our marketing approach starting with the creation of an in-house digital marketing team. This team has transformed our social media, online and mobile marketing, which has improved the efficiency and effectiveness of our marketing spend. In 2016, we revised and relaunched our online service appointment tool to provide a more convenient option for our customers to schedule service. In the first quarter of 2017, we launched our online sales tool called PUSHSTART, which enables our customers to complete a transaction online and take delivery at home. This year, we added an online loan marketplace.
This functionality allows customers to select their preferred financing alternative from specifically tailored offers from multiple lenders. This is an industry-first. In late 2017, we launched our guest experience center, which consists of brand-certified digital sales specialists that are able to effectively manage online and telephone customer interactions. Last year, we launched our online collision estimator app, giving customers a user-friendly way easily get collision estimates from their mobile device. Earlier this year, we dedicated a store to become our pilot dealership of the future, where we are testing alternative technologies and processes to optimize the model for the future. Some of the innovations that have been implemented include: a tablet-based buying process, enabling guests to purchase a car in a fraction of the time that would typically take at a traditional car dealership; self-service kiosks in the service lane that allow our customers to experience improved speed, convenience and transparency during the check-in process; we also recently added a service tracker software that allows our customers to track online the progress of their car through the entire process.
We expect this software will enhance both transparency and the guest experience, while at the same time, reducing the number of inbound status calls. This holistic transformation of our business involves changes to almost every aspect of our business, including the culture and environment in our stores. While we are focused on being at the forefront of innovation in our industry, we believe that success is driven by a well-designed plan and thoughtful execution rather than simply speed of implementation. We are confident that our investments in creating an unrivaled guest-centric experience will continue to yield attractive returns. I will now hand the call over to Sean to discuss our financial performance. Sean?
Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Thank you, David, and good morning, everyone. The second quarter marked another record performance with adjusted earnings per share of $2.38. Overall, compared to the prior-year second quarter, our revenue increased by 5%; gross profit increased by 6%; gross margin of 16.4% was 30 basis points higher than last year; SG&A as a percentage of gross profit improved by 60 basis points to 68%; adjusted operating margin increased 10 basis points to 4.7%; adjusted income from operations increased by 8%; and adjusted earnings per share increased by 14%. Net income for the second quarter of 2019 was adjusted for an $11.7 million pre-tax gain or $0.45 per share on divestiture of our Nissan store in Houston at a $300,000 pre-tax gain or $0.01 per share on sale of vacant land. As a reminder, in the second quarter of 2018, we adjusted for an approximately $700,000 pre-tax gain from legal settlements or $0.03 per share. Our effective tax rate was 25.3% for the second quarter of 2019, compared to 25.8% in the second quarter of 2018. Looking at expenses.
SG&A as a percentage of gross profit for the quarter was 68%, an improvement of 60 basis points over last year. When comparing this quarter to the prior-year second quarter, it is worth noting that last year, we experienced losses from two hailstorms. Efficient SG&A management is in our corporate DNA. Note also that many of our investments, including our omni-channel development costs and our investments in benefits for our front-line associates flow through the SG&A line on our income statement. SG&A expenses in the second quarter reflect a favorable business mix, solid returns from our omni-channel investments and certain investment timing adjustments as we fine-tune our ideas and test alternatives with the goal of optimizing the return on investment. While we expect SG&A as a percentage of gross profit to be higher in the second half of the year than the first half, given the results for the first half of the year, we now expect our annual SG&A as a percentage of gross profit to be between 68% and 69%. With respect to capital deployed, during the quarter, we spent $12 million on capital expenditures and $4 million repurchasing our common stock.
Our remaining share repurchase authorization stands at $70 million. We continue to optimize our store portfolio. During the quarter, we divested our Nissan store in Houston. This store generated approximately $90 million in annual revenue. In the third quarter, we expect to close on two acquisitions, which we anticipate will generate approximately $175 million in combined annual revenue.
One of these stores is in Indianapolis market, our eighth store in this market, and the other is in a new market for us. We plan to enter this new market using the store as an anchor, and we plan to follow a similar market rollout strategy to what we have achieved in the Indianapolis market over the last two years. At the end of the quarter, our total leverage ratio stood at 2.8x and our net leverage ratio at 2.2x. While this is below our target net leverage range of 2.5 to 3x, we do believe that the additional financial flexibility positions us well to opportunistically capitalize on expected attractive future capital deployment opportunities. Our floor plan interest expense increased by $2.5 million over the prior year, driven by increases in both the LIBOR rate and inventory levels. From a liquidity perspective, we ended the quarter with $10 million in cash, $87 million available in the floor plan offset accounts, $116 million available on our used vehicle line, $235 million available on our revolving credit lines and $177 million of undrawn mortgage facility. And I would now like to hand the call over to John to walk us through the operating performance in more detail.
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Thank you, Sean. My remarks will pertain to our same-store performance compared to the second quarter of 2018. Looking at new vehicles. While SAAR for the quarter was at 17 million units or 2% below last year, we focus on retail SAAR, which was down 3% for the quarter. In this lower retail SAAR environment, new unit sales decreased 1.6% outperforming the market.
Overall, our new car margin was 3.9%, down 50 basis points from the prior-year period. Although we experienced margin pressure across each brand segment, our high import brand mix pressure the margin. We were able to offset the margin pressure by strengthening F&I. Our total new vehicle inventory was at $895 million and our days supply was 86 , up 14 days from the prior year and above our target range of 70 to 75 days. Turning to used vehicles. Unit sales were flat from the prior year, and our gross profit margin of 7.1% represents a gross profit per vehicle of $1,554, down $13 from last year.
Our used vehicle inventory of $162 million is at a 33 days supply, up two days from the prior year and within our target range of 30 to 35 days. The used vehicle results this quarter fell short of our expectations, and we are focused on operational improvements to profitably grow this part of our business. Turning to F&I. Total F&I gross profit increased by 7% and gross profit per vehicle increased by $128 or 8% to $1,659 from the prior-year quarter. When we think about gross profit per vehicle, we look at the total front-end yield, which combines new, used and F&I gross profit. This provides the best view of our true profit per vehicle sold.
In the second quarter, our front-end yield per vehicle increased to $3,150 from $3,096 last year. Note that our total front-end yield has remained stable over the past decade. Turning to parts and service. Our parts and service revenue increased 8% and gross profit increased 6%. This was achieved with a 5% increase in customer pay and a 19% increase in warranty. Finally, I'd like to share a brief update on our omni-channel initiatives.
Our PUSHSTART online sales are up 29% from the prior year and represent approximately 9% of our total retail unit sales. We believe that this is partly attributable to new functionality that we have added to PUSHSTART. This includes the online loan marketplace that David described earlier, the ability of customers to scan driver's license, registration and insurance documents and the ability to upload trade-in photos for an appraisal. We continue to grow traffic utilizing our digital parts and service scheduling tool and we reached a record of 128,000 online service appointments this quarter, up 26% from the prior year. In addition to our omni-channel strategy, the other part of the equation is our people.
As previously announced, at the beginning of this year, we put together an industry-leading benefits package for our front-line associates, including subsidized medical plans, equity grants, education grants, a 4-day work week, extended vacation time and paid maternity leave. The early indications are that our enhanced benefits packages are having a favorable impact on both recruiting and retention. We are excited about the continued development of our omni-channel-driven growth strategy that allows us to leverage our brick-and-mortar assets to be the most guest-centric automotive retailer in the industry. In conclusion, I would like to take this opportunity to express appreciation to all our teammates in the field and our support center who continue to produce best-in-class performance. We will now turn the call over to the operator and take your questions. Operator?
Questions & Answers:
Operator
Thank you. [Operator instructions] We'll now take question from Rick Nelson with Stephens.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst
Thanks. Good morning. Nice quarter, guys. So there's been a lot of progress in the quarter, again, and year-to-date with SG&A. And I know, Sean, you would have guided to bigger second-half SG&A.
Is that a step-up in omni-channel spending? Or are you making some different assumptions about gross profit that might be different in the second half of the year? Is it exactly what that drivers might be?
Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yes. Good morning, Rick. The driver of the increase in SG&A in the second half of the year will be increased investments in our omni-channel initiatives. This quarter, we did benefit from the favorable business mix, the volume growth and the return on some of these investments because much of the return manifests itself in reduced costs in other parts of the business.
But really, the driver of the increased SG&A in the second half is the additional investments in our omni-channel initiatives.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst
Got you. Also, used cars, I'll follow up on that. We've seen now a couple of quarters where you haven't kept up with a peer group. I'm curious what the drivers are there.
I think last quarter, you pointed to some personnel issues. Is that still problematic?
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Hey, Rick. This is John. Now we're past any personnel issues. When you look at the history, the company has performed well in used cars over time.
We realized used volume is a great opportunity for us. We're good operators, we have a good team with a lot of right people. And we're working to grow this part of our business.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst
OK. And then if you could provide some color around the two new acquisitions, one at tuck-in, one at new market. Any input in terms of brands or multiples? Or are these -- is a tuck-in a turnaround situation or is that a well-run...
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Rick -- I'm sorry, Rick. This is David. As far as Indianapolis goes, we spent a lot of time a few years back, researching that market and felt like we would be a great fit and a good steward for that market. And we wanted to start there with an anchor store and we did that with a Hare Chevrolet store and we built that market out nicely. This particular store that we're adding, we anticipate closing in the next week or so, will be an import brand.
One that we do very well with and we're excited and kind of look at that we probably filled out the market there for us as much as we want to. This particular other market is a new market to us. It's also a different brand for us as well, but it also is that anchor-type store, referring back to the Hare Chevrolet example, and we really did a lot of research and homework and feel like this is a good opportunity and another good state for us to grow. And so we're very excited to look forward to that opportunity coming up soon.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst
OK. And finally, if I could ask you about the GPU pressures, especially in the import segment, $632 per unit this quarter. Is there specific brands that are driving that or is it across the board? I noticed the advertising PVR is also up, I think I calculated 16%. One of your peers has drawn a line in the sand, given up volume to improve margins.
I'm curious maybe you're taking a different attack here.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. I'll do the best I can in answering that. Mid-line import is not all the same. When you look at the size of our company and the number of stores we have, Nissan is a meaningful size brand to us, and we're certainly weighted percentage-wise heavier than any of our peers with that brand.
Their model has been to chase volume and they have aggressive incentives. Our Nissan stores outperform the markets that they're in, but fell dramatically short of reaching the potential opportunity or missed incentive money. So that had a material impact on our import number. As it specifically relates to the other mid-line imports, I would say we're similar to our peers. We're looking at that business differently, but their models are different than Nissan's.
So it's really looking at each individual brand and assessing what is your best opportunity. And currently, or at least in the last quarter, with that particular brand, if you don't chase that incentive money based upon the market and where that brand is performing within the market, it could be a heck of a lot worse, in my opinion.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst
OK. Great. Yes, it makes sense. Thanks a lot, and good luck.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
We'll now take a question from John Murphy with Bank of America.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
Good morning, guys. I want to ask sort of a slightly bigger picture question here, David. When you look at what's going on with retail sales, there's certainly a 3% decline as you kind of highlighted in the quarter, was a little bit worst in the first quarter and it was in the same zip code last year, in 2018. You grew earnings pretty dramatically last year, we just saw a 14% growth in earnings per share when you had retail sales down 3% in the second quarter of this year. As you look at this, if we continue to see a fade in retail sales, let's say, sort of low to maybe mid-single digits for the next few years, if we're really in a sort of a real downturn here, do you think you can continue to outstrip this with the other business segments and discipline on SG&A? Because you're doing a great job so far and I think this is really kind of the proof that the model is playing out.
Just curious on your thoughts on how severe a negative in retail sales would actually bring earnings down or you can just continue to chug along here and keep your earnings even flat to up in this kind of environment.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure, John. I'll try to answer at the best I can. Please circle back if I miss something. I'm sure like all our peers, we model this thing out all the way down to an $8 million SAAR, if you will.
And we're confident in our model that we can continue to grow the business. We are also working diligently on what we see is the new way of selling automobiles a few years from now, and we look at that as another opportunity to create more potential opportunity in SG&A while offering a higher level of service. We're excited about some of the software, but we look at it as balance between software and people. We have a lot of great people in the field that are passionate about trying new things and in software that's coming along. So I think there's more future opportunity in SG&A, especially as we advance more into the model.
As you can see, we're not performing well in pre-owned right now and we're still performing overall pretty well. So when we figure out pre-owned, and we will, we just see that there's a lot of opportunity for us to continue growing.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
OK. So you're saying all the way down to an $8 million sort of shock SAAR, like what we saw in 2009, you could think you can continue through the other segments to offset that and even grow earnings or maybe just stabilize earnings? That's a big statement.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. Well, I guess a little bit out of context. We model it down that far, but I would tell you, and I think back to the '08 SAAR and what went on there, the one big differentiator with the downturn that happened then that hadn't happened in previous cycles, the lending institutions were in a pretty tough spot. So at that moment in time, as bad as SAAR was, we actually had a lot of people that wanted cars that couldn't get loans.
So when we model these things, assuming that the lending is available, we think we can come pretty far down from a SAAR number where we're at and continue to grow our business as long as the lending is available for loans.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
And just maybe to try to put a simple point on this to try to kind of bracket stuff. And if we saw about a 5% decline in retail sales for the next two or three years, a tough cycle but plausible. Do you think even in that kind of environment, giving all your efforts, shifting the business structure, focusing on parts and service and used that you still will be able to slowly grow earnings at least?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
OK. That's great. Then maybe a second question on SG&A and all the efforts here. Sort of my rough rule of thumb is that about half percent of SG&A is fixed and half is variable, of the half it's variable, 15% or so is advertising, 85% is sales comp.
When you think about that, is that about correct? And as you're talking about this new age of retailing and still servicing the customer very well, but shifting SG&A cost to something that is more systematic as opposed to personnel-based? How much opportunity is there may be on the half that's variable and maybe even the half that is fixed? Is that correct?
Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
John, this is Sean. So firstly, when you think about our SG&A expenses at the moment, we think of the SG&A expenses are being about 20% to 30% fixed and the balance to be variable. Now some of that variable expenses varies directly, some we need to make adjustments to allow those expenses to be variable. But generally, we think of SG&A as being 20% to 30% fixed in nature.
So it obviously gives us some flexibility in a downward scenario. So to your second question, the business is evolving and as it evolves, we think that the model will change and there will be opportunities that will impact our SG&A cost structure, but it's fairly early days because of a number of different variables there. So I hesitate to give any specific numbers around that at this point in time, but we do think that there's opportunities for the SG&A structure to change as the business model evolves.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
OK. I mean I hate to be a wise guy and push you on this a little bit, but is that the kind of a couple of hundred basis points improvement? Or are we talking about focus of 10% or more down the line? And is this five -- I mean it sounds like this is three to five-plus years out at least.
Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Firstly, it is multiple years out, it is three to five years out. And as we said in our prepared remarks, we have this dealership of the future where we're trying out different models, we're trying out different cost structures and seeing how that develops. So I feel it's still too early days to throw out a specific number there, but as we learn and we refine the work that we're doing there, we'll be in a better position to give a more specific number.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
OK. And then just maybe lastly, rates are heading in the opposite direction and we kind of all maybe expected six to 12 months ago. Just curious how that's impacting your ability to sell, right? I mean, I guess it has probably not changed too much but if there might be some help on the horizon on consumer rates, and also what it means for your floor plan financing and maybe your willingness to make a take on a little bit more inventory as well.
Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
I'll start on the floor plan, and then I'll pass it on to John to talk a little bit about the impact on the consumer side. From a floor plan point of view, we have around $900 million of floor plan debt. And when you think of our capital structure, floor plan debt is essentially floating rate and the rest of our data is fixed rate. So based on the $900 million, a 1% change would impact our interest cost by about $9 million.
So I think that's the impact on the P&L of changes in interest rates. From a consumer point of view, the lending environment at the moment is very favorable. We haven't had any issues obtaining financing for our consumers. But I think as interest rates decline, that can only be positive for the consumer and for our F&I on our portfolio. And then, John, if you wanted to add anything on that.
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Yes. I can just add that the sub-prime market is still OK. Right now, it's about 8% of our total business. The lenders there are cautious, but there's still plenty of available credit for the consumers.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
And just one follow-up on that, is there been any change in floor plan assistance or anything like that? Or the auto makers are still taking and there's been no pullback there at all?
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
There's been no pullback there.
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
OK. Great. Thank you very much, guys.
Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Thank you, John.
Operator
[Operator instructions] We'll now move to Bret Jordan with Jefferies.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Good morning, guys.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Good morning.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
A question on the used side of the business, and I guess sort of competitive landscape. Are you seeing maybe any structural GPU pressures as some of your peers get into the used-only space and seems to be sort of driving really low GPUs in exchange for the F&I attachment? And I guess, is that changing market pricing at all?
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Hey, Bret, this is John. The used vehicle pricing is very transparent. The information's out there for the consumer, so it's really to keep the margins. It's really about your acquisition strategy and where you're acquiring the vehicles to keep the margin high.
In the old days, that information wasn't available to the consumer. But now with the Internet and all the third-party sites out there, it's very transparent, which I think it's a good thing. We just have to be diligent on our acquisition strategy and making sure we're acquiring the cars for the right money and putting the right conditioning in to them. And we may still maintain a decent margin.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
We've been pretty consistent at maintaining our PVRs and we tend to ride toward the upper end of the sector with our PVRs. So we're thoughtful and while volume is important and needed to grow and it's out there, we certainly look at the transaction meeting to be a profitable one. And there's certainly a lot of cost of sales associated with selling a vehicle. So while we want to sell the vehicle, certainly, we certainly want to make a fair return on what we sell.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Right. So if it's something that's out there giving units away, obviously, there's price transparency. And does that -- so that doesn't just drop the entire market. Even if you're sourcing better the out-the-door costs, the price is going down.
So you're not seeing sort of structural margin erosion?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
You know when you think about new, it's called race to the bottom with someone in the marketplace that will put a low price out there on a certain model. When it comes to pre-owned, every car is really unique. No two cars are alike. As far as other equipped with the miles and the conditions are, and it's a much larger pool to sell into.
There's certainly some pressure on it because of the transparency that's in the marketplace. And for lack of better terms, and now with software, the markets -- all the pricing in each individual market that anyone does business in is really set by the software and what the consumers can see. The question isn't so much about the sale price, it's about the acquisition. How profitable you're going to be in pre-owned is really where you're going to acquire the car and what you're going to acquire it for, because the market price is already set.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Great. Thank you.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
We'll now take a question from Armintas Sinkevicius with Morgan Stanley.
Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Great. Good morning. Thank you for taking the question. I just wanted to get more color on your digital initiatives, just any sort of context on website traffic or how many units you've sold.
Any sort of color you could provide would be helpful.
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
I can start. This is John. For the quarter, the PUSHSTART sales were about 8% of our total retail volume. We sold just over 4,000 that started here an application.
Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
OK. So it includes new and used then?
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Correct.
Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
OK. And then anything on website traffic or any other commentary that suggests it's gaining traction or anything of that nature?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Our web traffic is growing at a double-digit rate month over month, year over year for the last three years. Our marketing team has done a fantastic job there. With the addition of the loan marketplace on that PUSHSTART tool, it is an industry-first. What I would compare it to, it's almost like a rocket mortgage-like experience.
A consumer fills out the application, they're seeing five or six different lenders at once coming back with what the rates and the terms are. That has certainly made an impact. And what John stated in his script earlier, with the addition of being able to upload the driver's license, insurance card registration, photos of the trade, again, all making it more convenient and saving time for the consumer. When John said 8%, I think closer to 9% of our total sales in the quarter. So to us, it's a meaningful number.
The traffic playing with that tool is significantly higher than the 9% close, but we will -- we're confident that we'll continue to grow over time. And we liked the technology features that have been added to make it more convenient.
Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
OK. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe PUSHSTART is a bit of a deployment on a smaller scale. How do you think about expanding that for the rest of your store base and the timing around that?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
So it's a little complex because we have obviously, franchise agreements with each individual brand that we have. The loan marketplace that I talked about is in about 69 of our stores of the 87. And as far as the uploading of the insurance card, driver's license and trade stuff, that's actually on all of them. Now the limitation of the loan marketplace is some of the OEMs not actually allowing that.
But the other stories, it's actually on there. So it's on the majority of our stores at this point.
Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
OK. Great. Much appreciated.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
We'll now take a question from Chris Bottiglieri with Wolfe Research.
Chris Bottiglieri -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst
Hey, guys, thanks for taking the question. To clarify one first, the $175 million of acquisition revenue, is that a year one revenue number? Or is that like a terminal revenue multiple number?
Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
That's an annualized year one revenue number.
Chris Bottiglieri -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst
OK. That's helpful.
Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Those transactions will close during the third quarter for expenses, yes.
Chris Bottiglieri -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst
Got you. OK. Perfect. And then financial questions.
Just curious if you're seeing kind of impact from tariffs in your parts and service business. I'm not sure what the aftermarket mix is or even if the OE parts have tariffs on them. Realized that parts really have the COGS. But given I would take a pretty powerful labor inflation in the markets, any of pricing power, just trying to get a sense for how much tariffs and labor are helping your parts and service.
If you have any way to contextualize, that would be helpful.
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
What I -- we have -- yes, this is John. We haven't seen any significant increases in our parts prices due to tariffs.
Chris Bottiglieri -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst
Got you, guys. So low aftermarket exposure there. OK. That's helpful.
And I want to ask more about the parts and service in general. The whole industry is pretty -- growing pretty prolific right now. Is there a way to, I guess, one, like how do you feel the statability of kind of the warranty growth right now? Is there something structural change in it that should allow the industry to support this level of warranty growth or is it a couple of kind of like one-off campaigns that seem to be popping up? And then second, I was doing some math on your slide deck. It would seem to suggest that the incremental margins at parts are about 25% to 30%.
Is that a reasonable assumption as we think about kind of like the growth of parts and services? And any thoughts there will be helpful.
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
I want to tackle the warranty question first. So as you can see, we're up 19%, there was a growth in warranty. You know the warranty kind of comes with those. It's mostly due to the spikes or due to the recalls.
Acura, Kia and Hyundai had some pretty significant -- some recalls going on last quarter. As the cars get better, the warranty dollars tend to fade. So I think the spikes you see are really the recalls. And the great thing about the recalls to me is it gives you an opportunity to generate another customer pay or pay order.
We've been pretty consistent with customer pay. If you look over the last five or six quarters, like to grow that more. We have plenty of opportunities still as far as capacity to grow that.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
I'll just jump in and add a couple of quick things. We're actually excited about the future with electrification and the hybrid vehicles. They tend to be a higher retention customer and you make pretty good dollars on those. So we see a good upside in the future as that goes. As far as warranty, very, very difficult to model.
With technology increasing in these cars and the competitive nature of technology, there's a ton of recalls out there, and it's just -- they are always going to shift and take a different place of who's in first and who's in last, depending upon technology that's been implemented and put out there. Very hard to model, but we see that staying consistent over time just switching between brands. Your last point about the parts margin, it varies by brand. You're not far off, but it typically runs in the mid-30% range, 35% to 40% range on the parts margin.
Chris Bottiglieri -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst
That's crazy. It's such a great business. And sorry, not to be greedy, one last one. You kind of triggered a thought there.
Within hybrids, if you think about the brands that have high hybrid exposure, have you seen any material shift in market share from where you think your -- does this proportionally taking share relative to the independent channel? Starting to getting a sense for like -- as we have more electrification on the car fleet, how that could potentially impact franchise dealers at the expense of independent dealers? Any data you're willing to share or thoughts to help us, that will really be helpful. Thank you.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Well, and this is horrible to say but good for all the independents that are out there, but that's one of the things we're most excited about. With the technology in these vehicles, these independents don't have the tools to work on them nor the training. And it's actually very tenuous to work on these vehicles. So we see service retention numbers in the next five to seven years getting at rates that this industry has never seen, and quite honestly, the scale level coming up within the technicians in training. So we actually see it as a positive, the retention numbers are always higher with these customers.
For lack of a better term, they really have to come back to a brand-certified dealer to work on these vehicles. If you're going to an independent, it would not be a smart choice.
Chris Bottiglieri -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst
Really helpful. Thank you for all the thoughts.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Absolutely.
Operator
We'll now take our next question from Rajat Gupta with JP Morgan.
Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Hi, thanks for taking my question. Just had a question on F&I GPUs. I mean it's pretty strong this quarter. A lot of the peers are seeing pretty good growth here despite good used volumes.
How should we think about the second-half trajectory year for as we gave used vehicle units from these kinds of pickup for you guys? And then I have a follow-up.
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
We had a good quarter with F&I. The finance penetration was up 2%, the SC penetration was up 1%, and we did a good job on increasing our PVR on cash deals was up about $16. So when we look at F&I, we always kind of focus on lifting the bottom half of the group up. So I still think there's some opportunities there to improve.
And I think I missed the second half of your question, I'm sorry.
Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
I was just wondering, I mean, in the second half of this year, as your used units start to pick up again, should we still expect this kind of GPU growth? I'm assuming mix should have -- or mix should be a little bit of headwind.
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Yes. I would say if you look at our peers, we have room to grow. We're excited about our F&I but we're not satisfied in a sense that we know there's potential there and we're missing it. So we're hoping to be more aggressive and get more F&I dollars to specifically say, can we model it in? It's very difficult to say what's going to happen.
Generally speaking, and it varies by brand, we make a little bit more F&I dollars on new than we do pre-owned. Some of that has to do with the cost to sale, but certainly make good dollars as well on pre-owned F&I.
Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Got it. That's clear. And then on parts and services, just want to follow up. You should have pretty good revenue growth there, but it looks like margins were down a little bit year over year, not too much.
I didn't mean to nitpick here but is there -- is that just driven by mix? Or is there any impact from all the benefit packages that run out certainly this year? Just trying to get a sense of the trajectory here going forward in this.
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Yes. I would say, and I don't have it right in front of me, but I think if you looked in the table we sent out, it has really to do with our internal gross profit of the reconditioning. The lack of used car sales actually pull that gross profit down. I think if you pull out that internal piece and just look at CP and warranty, the gross profit growth was actually 8% on a same-store basis. So we like the direction.
I would call it a slow, sustainable, solid growth in our parts and service. It's not just capturing the dollars, it's making sure we're retaining a customer who can handle the level of service properly. That's what continues the growth into the future. But I think what pulled us down a little bit in the quarter was in total.
I don't know, Sean, if you...
Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yes. I'll just add to that and say actually, on our schedules, it shows that the parts and service gross profit, when you exclude the internal reconditioning, it's actually identical to the previous year at 48%. So it really is -- it's purely a mix of internal work versus external work.
Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Got it. That's clear. Thanks.
Operator
We'll now take our next question from Stephanie Benjamin with SunTrust.
Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst
Hi, good morning. Thanks for the question.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Good morning.
Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst
I wondered if you could talk a little bit more about the omni investments you have or the SG&A investments you have in the second half to build out your omni capabilities. Which areas you're specifically targeting, whether it's more online tools for parts and service or just building out your capabilities? Any additional color will be helpful.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. I would say it kind of goes back to my script a little bit when we talk about a solid plan and thoughtful execution. I think we get excited about these opportunities and talk about them a little bit, and we're a little bit slower to implement because we try to be very thoughtful to look at each one of our independent stores and how they're operating. When you start to scale these things, they have a cause and effect on them. So we've been a little bit slow this half -- of the first half of the year.
Not so much in launching the tools and within the individual stores but as far as scaling them out. The example I'll give you is the loan to marketplace one. That's really been in the last 45 days, that's scaled and went out to stores where six months ago, we anticipated in every store a lot faster. So we're a little bit slower to move and make sure we perfected because the user experience has to be there. Same thing that service tracker that I mentioned and I mentioned it on the previous call, it's out there, but it's not out there in scale.
So we're still playing with it and trying to perfect it, and then we'll scale that in the second half of the year along with some other things. So I think it's more of the ramp-up of expenses of scaling some of the tools we mentioned.
Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst
Great. That's helpful. It makes sense. And then just switching gears on just M&A.
Have you seen any kind of compression in multiples given this kind of continuation of declining SAAR or a bit of opportunity to be a little bit more aggressive on M&A? Thanks.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. And this is David. We've seen a tremendous amount of M&A this year, some really big groups and small independent stuff. And really, the pricing has been all over the board.
Some of it is still unrealistic. Generally speaking, it's coming down and becoming more realistic, and we're excited about that. But for our organization, it's not about being the biggest. We don't see any economies in scale of being large.
That, to us, reflects in our SG&A and operating margins. It's really about thoughtful and being good stewards and making good acquisitions that are going to create great returns for our shareholders. So we're excited about what we're seeing. We see opportunities to grow, but we're trying to grow at a pace that makes sense and make sure that we don't fall in love with an acquisition. It's very easy to buy something a lot harder to run it, and we want to make sure that we're thoughtful about the acquisition, and it's a good future investment and asset for our company.
Operator
Stephanie did you have anything further?
Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst
No, I'm all set. Thanks so much for all the clarity.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
We'll take our next question from David Whiston with Morningstar.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
Thanks, good morning. I wanted to go back to used. You mentioned it did fall short of your expectations, I was assuming you were referring maybe to the 3% volume number and sort of relatively hot used market right now. Can you just talk about specifically, what was going on with the store level that caused you to fall short of expectations?
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Yes. This is John, David. So it's really just -- we didn't execute on some basic things and this is a fairly -- it's a complex business, but it's a simple business. So really, if we focus on doing the right things every single day, as far as acquisition, appraisal, merchandising, marketing, we'll be fine, and that's what we're focused on moving forward.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
And I would say it's a little bit of the D&A discipline within the stores that's really trying to maintain that PVR. The easiest way to maintain the PVR is sell trade-ins, and the quickest way to lower that PVR is acquire a lot of vehicles from the auction. They're trying to stay disciplined in their purchase to do the best they can at maintaining that margin. We have to do a better job at acquiring vehicles because that's really what's about.
And you can easily acquire a vehicle but at the right acquisition prices is really about that. Each asset seems on its own, and we really focus on that return on the asset.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
So the issue is more on pricing rather than just not getting enough vehicles or not pushing used enough is what you're saying, right?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. I would say, generally speaking, when you think about SAAR being depressed a little bit, that means you're selling a few less cars or flat, and the trade-ins, you're not seeing quite as many. So therefore, you're going to be a little bit depleted from an inventory supply there. How you supplement that is either through your service drive or through auctions.
And while it's easy to buy truckloads of vehicles at auctions, it's not just about acquiring the car. It's about making a fair profit on the car and does the investment makes sense. So I would say we're a little bit more conservative at acquiring cars at auction. I mean wholesaled less cars in the quarter than we did previously, so we're doing a better job at keeping them. But generally, we're lacking probably enough cars to really produce the results we need.
We're turning the inventory well, we're keeping the day supply well, the gross profits well. We just need to do a better job at acquiring more at the right price.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
OK. Thanks. And on light trucks, are you seeing even at the margin any weakness within crossover SUV or pickup? And looking out to next year, are you at all concerned that maybe the -- especially in the compact crossover area, is the market going to get too subdivided to over saturate in the supply when we have some -- even more models coming from the automakers?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Even the consumer has been heading toward that crossover like duty truck for a while, it's a great market. There's plenty of vehicles available. I don't see it arrowing the margin because there's more availability or options for the consumer.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
OK. And just last question on the Nissan gain on the store there, it's a pretty big gain. Is that entirely non-cash and was there some sort of big reserves that you have to write-offs and make the gain so big or what was going on there in the accounting?
Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
There's no big reserves that's being written of associated with that. But that store was an under-performing store. And as an under-performing store, over time, the intangible assets related to that store had been written down. And so as a result of writing those intangible assets down over time, which didn't happen in this period, happened in previous periods going back a while, there was a significant gain due to that.
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
OK. Thanks, guys.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you. Thank you very much. This concludes today's discussion. We appreciate your participation. Have a great day.
Thank you.
Duration: 55 minutes
Call participants:
Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst
John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Chris Bottiglieri -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst
Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst
David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst
More ABG analysis
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG) Q2 2019 Earnings Call Jul 26, 2019, 10:00 a.m. Duration: 55 minutes Call participants: Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Chris Bottiglieri -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer I'll start on the floor plan, and then I'll pass it on to John to talk a little bit about the impact on the consumer side. | Duration: 55 minutes Call participants: Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Chris Bottiglieri -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG) Q2 2019 Earnings Call Jul 26, 2019, 10:00 a.m. Participating with us today are David Hult, our president and chief executive officer; John Hartman, our senior vice president of operations; and Sean Goodman, our senior vice president and chief financial officer. | Duration: 55 minutes Call participants: Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Chris Bottiglieri -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG) Q2 2019 Earnings Call Jul 26, 2019, 10:00 a.m. Participating with us today are David Hult, our president and chief executive officer; John Hartman, our senior vice president of operations; and Sean Goodman, our senior vice president and chief financial officer. | Duration: 55 minutes Call participants: Matt Pettoni -- Vice President of Finance and Treasurer David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations Rick Nelson -- Stephens Inc. -- Analyst John Murphy -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Chris Bottiglieri -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst Rajat Gupta -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst David Whiston -- Morningstar -- Analyst More ABG analysis All earnings call transcripts This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG) Q2 2019 Earnings Call Jul 26, 2019, 10:00 a.m. The question isn't so much about the sale price, it's about the acquisition. |
28774.0 | 2019-06-28 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive Group Reaches Analyst Target Price | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-group-reaches-analyst-target-price-2019-06-28 | nan | nan | In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $83.88, changing hands for $83.94/share. When a stock reaches the target an analyst has set, the analyst logically has two ways to react: downgrade on valuation, or, re-adjust their target price to a higher level. Analyst reaction may also depend on the fundamental business developments that may be responsible for driving the stock price higher — if things are looking up for the company, perhaps it is time for that target price to be raised.
There are 8 different analyst targets contributing to that average for Asbury Automotive Group Inc, but the average is just that — a mathematical average. There are analysts with lower targets than the average, including one looking for a price of $75.00. And then on the other side of the spectrum one analyst has a target as high as $90.00. The standard deviation is $4.911.
But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $83.88/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $83.88 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? Below is a table showing the current thinking of the analysts that cover Asbury Automotive Group Inc:
The average rating presented in the last row of the above table above is from 1 to 5 where 1 is Strong Buy and 5 is Strong Sell. This article used data provided by Zacks Investment Research via Quandl.com. Get the latest Zacks research report on ABG — FREE.
The Top 25 Broker Analyst Picks of the S&P 500 »
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $83.88, changing hands for $83.94/share. But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $83.88/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $83.88 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? | In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $83.88, changing hands for $83.94/share. But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $83.88/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $83.88 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? | And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $83.88/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $83.88 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $83.88, changing hands for $83.94/share. But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. | In recent trading, shares of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $83.88, changing hands for $83.94/share. But the whole reason to look at the average ABG price target in the first place is to tap into a "wisdom of crowds" effort, putting together the contributions of all the individual minds who contributed to the ultimate number, as opposed to what just one particular expert believes. And so with ABG crossing above that average target price of $83.88/share, investors in ABG have been given a good signal to spend fresh time assessing the company and deciding for themselves: is $83.88 just one stop on the way to an even higher target, or has the valuation gotten stretched to the point where it is time to think about taking some chips off the table? |
28775.0 | 2019-06-03 00:00:00 UTC | Commit To Buy Asbury Automotive Group At $60, Earn 4.8% Annualized Using Options | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/commit-buy-asbury-automotive-group-%2460-earn-4.8-annualized-using-options-2019-06-03 | nan | nan | Investors eyeing a purchase of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) shares, but tentative about paying the going market price of $76.58/share, might benefit from considering selling puts among the alternative strategies at their disposal. One interesting put contract in particular, is the January 2020 put at the $60 strike, which has a bid at the time of this writing of $1.80. Collecting that bid as the premium represents a 3% return against the $60 commitment, or a 4.8% annualized rate of return (at Stock Options Channel we call this the YieldBoost).
Selling a put does not give an investor access to ABG's upside potential the way owning shares would, because the put seller only ends up owning shares in the scenario where the contract is exercised. And the person on the other side of the contract would only benefit from exercising at the $60 strike if doing so produced a better outcome than selling at the going market price. (Do options carry counterparty risk? This and six other common options myths debunked). So unless Asbury Automotive Group Inc sees its shares fall 21.1% and the contract is exercised (resulting in a cost basis of $58.20 per share before broker commissions, subtracting the $1.80 from $60), the only upside to the put seller is from collecting that premium for the 4.8% annualized rate of return.
Below is a chart showing the trailing twelve month trading history for Asbury Automotive Group Inc, and highlighting in green where the $60 strike is located relative to that history:
The chart above, and the stock's historical volatility, can be a helpful guide in combination with fundamental analysis to judge whether selling the January 2020 put at the $60 strike for the 4.8% annualized rate of return represents good reward for the risks. We calculate the trailing twelve month volatility for Asbury Automotive Group Inc (considering the last 250 trading day closing values as well as today's price of $76.58) to be 28%. For other put options contract ideas at the various different available expirations, visit the ABG Stock Options page of StockOptionsChannel.com.
In mid-afternoon trading on Monday, the put volume among S&P 500 components was 1.54M contracts, with call volume at 1.92M, for a put:call ratio of 0.80 so far for the day, which is unusually high compared to the long-term median put:call ratio of .65. In other words, there are lots more put buyers out there in options trading so far today than would normally be seen, as compared to call buyers. Find out which 15 call and put options traders are talking about today.
Top YieldBoost Puts of Stocks Conducting Buybacks »
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Investors eyeing a purchase of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) shares, but tentative about paying the going market price of $76.58/share, might benefit from considering selling puts among the alternative strategies at their disposal. Selling a put does not give an investor access to ABG's upside potential the way owning shares would, because the put seller only ends up owning shares in the scenario where the contract is exercised. For other put options contract ideas at the various different available expirations, visit the ABG Stock Options page of StockOptionsChannel.com. | Selling a put does not give an investor access to ABG's upside potential the way owning shares would, because the put seller only ends up owning shares in the scenario where the contract is exercised. Investors eyeing a purchase of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) shares, but tentative about paying the going market price of $76.58/share, might benefit from considering selling puts among the alternative strategies at their disposal. For other put options contract ideas at the various different available expirations, visit the ABG Stock Options page of StockOptionsChannel.com. | Selling a put does not give an investor access to ABG's upside potential the way owning shares would, because the put seller only ends up owning shares in the scenario where the contract is exercised. Investors eyeing a purchase of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) shares, but tentative about paying the going market price of $76.58/share, might benefit from considering selling puts among the alternative strategies at their disposal. For other put options contract ideas at the various different available expirations, visit the ABG Stock Options page of StockOptionsChannel.com. | Investors eyeing a purchase of Asbury Automotive Group Inc (Symbol: ABG) shares, but tentative about paying the going market price of $76.58/share, might benefit from considering selling puts among the alternative strategies at their disposal. Selling a put does not give an investor access to ABG's upside potential the way owning shares would, because the put seller only ends up owning shares in the scenario where the contract is exercised. For other put options contract ideas at the various different available expirations, visit the ABG Stock Options page of StockOptionsChannel.com. |
28776.0 | 2019-04-09 00:00:00 UTC | Bull of the Day: America's Car-Mart, Inc. (CRMT) | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/bull-day-americas-car-mart-inc-crmt-2019-04-09-0 | nan | nan | Shares of America's Car-Mart, Inc. (CRMT) have skyrocketed 83% over the last 12 months to crush the S&P 500's 10% climb and 2019 has seen the stock hit multiple new 52-week highs. The company operates 144 automotive dealerships in the U.S. and is expected to see strong top and bottom-line expansion in fiscal 2019 and 2020.
Overview & Growth
America's Car-Mart is a used vehicle dealer that specializes in what it calls "Buy Here/Pay Here" and is an attractive place for people with less-than-stellar credit to purchase a car. As we touched on already, America's Car-Mart operates 144 automotive dealerships across 11 states. The firm operates mostly in small cities in the South-Central U.S., including Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, and Texas.
CRMT allows its customers to purchase, finance, and make payments all in one place. The business might not be attractive to some people as there can be a stigma surrounding the used car industry in general. But people who might not qualify for traditional loans because of bad credit or no credit need a place to buy a vehicle, especially in spread out areas with few public transportation options.
Investors should note that the company's 72-hour 100% satisfaction return policy has helped it stand out in the industry. The company also offers low down payments, flexible payment and financing offerings, as well as a wide range of trade-in options. America's Car-Mart has seen its revenues climb by a roughly 11% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) from 2002 through fiscal 2018. CRMT has also grown its active customers base by 7.5% during this same period as it continues to stand out in terms of service and quality compared to smaller, mom and pop used car dealerships in many of its markets.
The company's growth has helped CRMT stock soar 445% over the last decade to crush the S&P's 240% expansion and its peer group's 343% average, which includes the likes of Sonic Automotive Inc (SAH) and Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG). We can also see that shares of CRMT have easily surpassed its peer group in the last five years, driven by 158% growth in the past 24 months.
Outlook & Earnings Trends
Looking ahead, our current Zacks Consensus Estimate calls for the company's fourth-quarter fiscal 2019 revenue to surge 10.9% to hit $187.85 million. This would mark an improvement from Q3 when America's Car-Mart saw its revenue pop 9.4%. Meanwhile, the company's full-year 2019 sales are expected to jump 11.1% to reach $680.09 million. Peeking even further ahead, CRMT's fiscal 2020 revenue is projected to come in 7.8% above our current year estimate.
At the bottom end of the income statement, the used car dealership power's outlook appears even more attractive. The firm's adjusted Q4 earnings are projected to surge 23.8% to reach $1.77 per share. Plus, CRMT's full-year EPS figure is projected to skyrocket roughly 79% to $6.43 per share. The company's adjusted 2020 earnings are expected to come in 10.8% higher than our 2019 projection. And CRMT's EPS figure is projected to grow by an annualized rate of 19% over the next three to five years.
On top of its impressive bottom-line outlook, America's Car-Mart's earnings estimate revision picture has turned far more positive over the last 60 days. The company's 2020 earnings estimate has climbed by 12.7% over this stretch, from $6.32 per share to $7.12 a share. CRMT's 2019 estimate also improved by over 11%, which could be a good sign as earnings growth is often correlated with positive stock price movement.
Furthermore, America's Car-Mart has a strong history of topping quarterly earnings estimates. This includes eight straigh t earnings beats, with an average surprise of 42.2% over the trailing four periods.
Bottom Line
America's Car-Mart is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) right now based, in large part, on its positive earnings estimate revision trends. The company also sports "B" grades for Value and Momentum and an "A" for Growth in our Style Scores system.
On of that, CRMT is trading right near its five-year median at 12.8X forward 12-month Zacks Consensus EPS estimates. This falls way below the S&P's 17.2X average and its own five-year high of 17.6X. The company also boasts an impressive price/sales ratio of 0.92.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | The company's growth has helped CRMT stock soar 445% over the last decade to crush the S&P's 240% expansion and its peer group's 343% average, which includes the likes of Sonic Automotive Inc (SAH) and Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG). Click to get this free report Sonic Automotive, Inc. (SAH): Free Stock Analysis Report America's Car-Mart, Inc. (CRMT): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Overview & Growth America's Car-Mart is a used vehicle dealer that specializes in what it calls "Buy Here/Pay Here" and is an attractive place for people with less-than-stellar credit to purchase a car. | Click to get this free report Sonic Automotive, Inc. (SAH): Free Stock Analysis Report America's Car-Mart, Inc. (CRMT): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. The company's growth has helped CRMT stock soar 445% over the last decade to crush the S&P's 240% expansion and its peer group's 343% average, which includes the likes of Sonic Automotive Inc (SAH) and Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG). Outlook & Earnings Trends Looking ahead, our current Zacks Consensus Estimate calls for the company's fourth-quarter fiscal 2019 revenue to surge 10.9% to hit $187.85 million. | The company's growth has helped CRMT stock soar 445% over the last decade to crush the S&P's 240% expansion and its peer group's 343% average, which includes the likes of Sonic Automotive Inc (SAH) and Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG). Click to get this free report Sonic Automotive, Inc. (SAH): Free Stock Analysis Report America's Car-Mart, Inc. (CRMT): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Outlook & Earnings Trends Looking ahead, our current Zacks Consensus Estimate calls for the company's fourth-quarter fiscal 2019 revenue to surge 10.9% to hit $187.85 million. | The company's growth has helped CRMT stock soar 445% over the last decade to crush the S&P's 240% expansion and its peer group's 343% average, which includes the likes of Sonic Automotive Inc (SAH) and Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG). Click to get this free report Sonic Automotive, Inc. (SAH): Free Stock Analysis Report America's Car-Mart, Inc. (CRMT): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Overview & Growth America's Car-Mart is a used vehicle dealer that specializes in what it calls "Buy Here/Pay Here" and is an attractive place for people with less-than-stellar credit to purchase a car. |
28777.0 | 2019-04-07 00:00:00 UTC | Looking to Buy Tilray? 5 Things You Should Know First | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/looking-buy-tilray-5-things-you-should-know-first-2019-04-07-0 | nan | nan | So far, 2019 is turning out to be a very good year for many marijuana stocks. But not for all of them. Tilray (NASDAQ: TLRY) , for example, is performing much worse than most of its peers, with its share price slipping nearly 16% year to date.
However, Tilray ranked as the top-performing Canadian marijuana stock of 2018 . The company has tremendous opportunities for growth in the future. If you're looking to buy Tilray while it's down, though, here are five things you should know first.
1. Great partners
One area in which Tilray has arguably outshone its peers is in forging multiple partnerships with big players outside of the cannabis industry. Granted, Canopy Growth and Cronos Group have made deals that involved significant investments from their partners. Tilray, though, has teamed up with several large global companies.
Tilray's first major deal was with Novartis ' Sandoz subsidiary. The relationship was initially limited to developing and marketing medical cannabis products in Canada. However, Tilray and Novartis later expanded the scope of their partnership to a global scale.
In December, Tilray announced a partnership with big beermaker Anheuser-Busch InBev to research cannabis-infused nonalcoholic beverages for potential introduction in the Canadian market once cannabis edibles are allowed. The company hopes this relationship leads to collaboration outside of Canada in the future.
Earlier this year, Tilray and Authentic Brands Group (ABG) teamed up to market and distribute consumer cannabis-infused products across the world. ABG's product lineup includes more than 50 beauty, lifestyle, and wellness brands.
2. Solid international medical cannabis operations
Although Tilray definitely should be able to grow revenue significantly in Canada, the company's opportunities in global medical cannabis markets are even greater. The good news is that Tilray already has solid international medical cannabis operations.
Tilray's medical cannabis products are currently available in 12 countries. The company was the first to secure approval to sell both cannabis flower and cannabis oils in Germany, the largest international medical cannabis market outside of North America. Tilray was also the first company to export legal medical cannabis products from North America to four continents.
The company's Portugal facility gives it a launching pad to distribute medical cannabis throughout Europe. Tilray's partnership with Novartis should also help in establishing solid relationships with physicians and pharmacists across the world.
3. Leadership position in the U.S. hemp market
One international marijuana market in which Tilray can't currently compete is the U.S. Tilray can't keep its listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange and establish U.S. marijuana operations as long as marijuana remains illegal at the federal level. But it's a different story for hemp, which became legal in the U.S. in December 2018.
Tilray has quickly become a leader in the U.S. hemp market thanks to its acquisition of Manitoba Harvest in February. Manitoba Harvest ranks as the world's largest hemp food maker. The company's products are sold in more than 16,000 stores in North America, with around 13,000 of those stores in the U.S.
In addition, Tilray and ABG will market consumer products that contain hemp-based cannabidiol (CBD) in the U.S. Tilray's Manitoba Harvest operations provide the company a strong supply chain for CBD to be used in ABG's products.
4. Relatively low capacity -- but expanding quickly
A major knock against Tilray is that its production capacity is significantly less than that of other top-tier Canadian marijuana producers. The company currently relies on third-party cannabis suppliers much more than it would like. This dependence contributed to Tilray's gross margin slipping in the fourth quarter of 2018.
However, Tilray is taking steps to expand its production capacity. CEO Brendan Kennedy stated in the company's Q4 conference call that a top priority is to boost capacity. Tilray expects to be able to produce around 90,000 kilograms of cannabis by the end of this year, excluding the impact of its acquisition of Natura Naturals earlier this year.
5. Lofty valuation
Another thing that investors should consider before buying Tilray is its valuation. With a market cap of around $5.8 billion and 2018 revenue of only $43.1 million, there's a whole lot of growth expectation baked into the share price.
Tilray certainly has plenty of avenues for growth. The Canadian adult-use recreational marijuana market is expected to grow to around $5 billion within the next few years. European medical cannabis and CBD markets could approach $10 billion by 2023. The U.S. hemp CBD market could be as large as $22 billion by 2022 , according to a projection by Brightfield Group.
Keep in mind, though, that these figures are just estimates. They could be wrong. And there's no guarantee that Tilray will be able to capture sufficient market share to justify its current valuation even if the estimates do prove to be on target.
The bottom line is that Tilray has a lot going for it, but there's also a lot of uncertainty.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Earlier this year, Tilray and Authentic Brands Group (ABG) teamed up to market and distribute consumer cannabis-infused products across the world. ABG's product lineup includes more than 50 beauty, lifestyle, and wellness brands. In addition, Tilray and ABG will market consumer products that contain hemp-based cannabidiol (CBD) in the U.S. Tilray's Manitoba Harvest operations provide the company a strong supply chain for CBD to be used in ABG's products. | Earlier this year, Tilray and Authentic Brands Group (ABG) teamed up to market and distribute consumer cannabis-infused products across the world. ABG's product lineup includes more than 50 beauty, lifestyle, and wellness brands. In addition, Tilray and ABG will market consumer products that contain hemp-based cannabidiol (CBD) in the U.S. Tilray's Manitoba Harvest operations provide the company a strong supply chain for CBD to be used in ABG's products. | In addition, Tilray and ABG will market consumer products that contain hemp-based cannabidiol (CBD) in the U.S. Tilray's Manitoba Harvest operations provide the company a strong supply chain for CBD to be used in ABG's products. Earlier this year, Tilray and Authentic Brands Group (ABG) teamed up to market and distribute consumer cannabis-infused products across the world. ABG's product lineup includes more than 50 beauty, lifestyle, and wellness brands. | Earlier this year, Tilray and Authentic Brands Group (ABG) teamed up to market and distribute consumer cannabis-infused products across the world. ABG's product lineup includes more than 50 beauty, lifestyle, and wellness brands. In addition, Tilray and ABG will market consumer products that contain hemp-based cannabidiol (CBD) in the U.S. Tilray's Manitoba Harvest operations provide the company a strong supply chain for CBD to be used in ABG's products. |
28778.0 | 2019-03-31 00:00:00 UTC | Which Canadian Marijuana Stock Is Best Poised to Win in the U.S.: Aurora Cannabis, Cronos, Canopy Growth, or Tilray? | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/which-canadian-marijuana-stock-best-poised-win-us-aurora-cannabis-cronos-canopy-growth-0 | nan | nan | Canada's recreational marijuana market and European medical cannabis markets tend to be the top subjects of discussion for executives of the biggest marijuana producers. That makes sense, with nearly all of the revenue for the big marijuana companies being generated in Canada and in Europe.
But what about the U.S., the biggest cannabis market in the world? The biggest of those big marijuana producers in terms of market cap -- Canopy Growth (NYSE: CGC) , Aurora Cannabis (NYSE: ACB) , Tilray (NASDAQ: TLRY) , and Cronos Group (NASDAQ: CRON) -- can't enter the U.S. marijuana market and retain their listings on major stock exchanges as long as marijuana remains illegal at the federal level in the United States.
However, entering the U.S. hemp market is a different story altogether thanks to the legalization of hemp in the U.S. in December 2018. Which of the top Canadian marijuana growers is best poised to win in the U.S. market? Here's how the prospects look right now for Canopy, Aurora, Tilray, and Cronos.
The leaders
Two of the top Canadian marijuana producers stand out as leaders in the race to jump into the U.S. market. Canopy Growth and Tilray have already taken significant steps to enter the United States.
Canopy Growth made its first big splash in October 2018 by acquiring Colorado-based hemp research company ebbu. Canopy was able to stay in compliance with the listing requirements of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) with the deal, even though hemp wasn't technically legal in the U.S. at the time. The company was able to do so by only conducting research and development with its ebbu operations and not producing any products for sale.
In January, Canopy Growth followed up with an even bigger announcement . The company revealed that it had secured a license to produce and process hemp in New York state. Canopy is investing between $100 million and $150 million to build a hemp industrial park in New York.
Canopy Growth founder and co-CEO Bruce Linton stated in his company's Q3 conference call in February that he expects the company will have hemp CBD products on the market in the U.S. by the end of this year. Linton also hinted at the possibility that Canopy could build hemp production facilities in additional U.S. states.
Tilray wasn't too far behind. In February, the company announced that it's acquiring Manitoba Harvest , the world's largest hemp food maker, for around $318 million. Manitoba Harvest's hemp-based food products are sold in over 16,000 stores in North America, around 13,000 of which are in the United States.
The acquisition of Manitoba Harvest plays into another deal Tilray made recently. The company announced in January that it was teaming up with U.S.-based Authentic Brands Group (ABG) to develop and market consumer cannabis products globally. Tilray CEO Brendan Kennedy confirmed in the company's quarterly update a few weeks ago that this partnership "will initially focus on CBD products in the United States." The acquisition of Manitoba Harvest gives Tilray a built-in supply chain for supplying CBD to ABG.
The laggards
While Canopy Growth and Tilray appear to be the early leaders in entering the U.S., Aurora Cannabis and Cronos Group are the laggards. Neither company has announced any firm plans yet about its U.S. expansion strategies.
When asked about the U.S. hemp opportunity in the company's earnings call in February, Aurora Cannabis CEO Terry Booth replied that there is some confusion about hemp-based CBD distribution in the United States. He added that Aurora would "enter when it's proper to enter, and when it's legal to enter into the United States market."
To be fair, Aurora definitely has significant hemp capabilities. The company owns Agropro, the largest hemp producer in Europe. Aurora owns a majority interest in Canadian hemp producer Hempco Food and Fiber . And it acquired Uruguay-based hemp grower ICC Labs .
Cronos Group was the first Canadian marijuana stock to list on the Nasdaq . CEO Michael Gorenstein stated last year the Cronos planned to be "a big part of the U.S. market." So far, however, the company hasn't taken any visible steps to expand into the U.S. Gorenstein did say in Cronos Group's Q4 conference call , though, that Cronos has "done a great job of building strong relationships both with U.S. cannabis industry stakeholders" and will "continue watching very closely" the U.S. hemp opportunity.
Most likely to succeed
While there are distinct leaders and laggards among the top Canadian marijuana growers with respect to the U.S. market now, the dynamics could change quickly. It's quite possible that both Aurora and Cronos Group could make announcements in the near future about expanding into the U.S.
Aurora Chief Corporate Officer Cam Battley mentioned in the company's conference call that "we don't want to give away too much of our strategy just yet in the U.S." Similarly, Cronos Group's Gorenstein said that his company "won't telegraph our strategy" for the U.S. market as some of its peers have.
Which of the four companies appears most likely to succeed in the U.S.? I'll give a nuanced answer.
In my view, Tilray will be most successful early on in the U.S. hemp CBD market. The company will hit the ground running with Manitoba Harvest in its fold. It will take months for Canopy Growth to launch its first hemp CBD products. Tilray will immediately have solid connections with retailers and customers with its Manitoba Harvest acquisition and its deal with ABG.
But Canopy Growth will definitely play to win. The company also has a big partner with a successful track record in the U.S., Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) . Canopy also has a big cash stockpile to fund its efforts thanks to Constellation's $4 billion investment. When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finalizes regulations for CBD-infused beverages, Canopy's relationship with Constellation should give it an advantage over its peers.
I also think that hemp will only be a start. The odds that the U.S. will allow states to enforce their own marijuana laws are increasing. Sooner or later, the big Canadian marijuana producers will probably be able to jump into the U.S. marijuana market.
When that time comes, I think that Canopy's partnership with and money from Constellation will be a key factor. My take is that Canopy Growth remains the most likely to succeed in the overall U.S. cannabis market over the long run.
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Keith Speights has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Constellation Brands and Nasdaq. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | The company announced in January that it was teaming up with U.S.-based Authentic Brands Group (ABG) to develop and market consumer cannabis products globally. The acquisition of Manitoba Harvest gives Tilray a built-in supply chain for supplying CBD to ABG. Tilray will immediately have solid connections with retailers and customers with its Manitoba Harvest acquisition and its deal with ABG. | The acquisition of Manitoba Harvest gives Tilray a built-in supply chain for supplying CBD to ABG. The company announced in January that it was teaming up with U.S.-based Authentic Brands Group (ABG) to develop and market consumer cannabis products globally. Tilray will immediately have solid connections with retailers and customers with its Manitoba Harvest acquisition and its deal with ABG. | The company announced in January that it was teaming up with U.S.-based Authentic Brands Group (ABG) to develop and market consumer cannabis products globally. The acquisition of Manitoba Harvest gives Tilray a built-in supply chain for supplying CBD to ABG. Tilray will immediately have solid connections with retailers and customers with its Manitoba Harvest acquisition and its deal with ABG. | The company announced in January that it was teaming up with U.S.-based Authentic Brands Group (ABG) to develop and market consumer cannabis products globally. The acquisition of Manitoba Harvest gives Tilray a built-in supply chain for supplying CBD to ABG. Tilray will immediately have solid connections with retailers and customers with its Manitoba Harvest acquisition and its deal with ABG. |
28779.0 | 2019-03-23 00:00:00 UTC | The Most Compelling Argument Why Tilray Is a Better Buy Than Aurora Cannabis and Canopy Growth | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/most-compelling-argument-why-tilray-better-buy-aurora-cannabis-and-canopy-growth-2019-03 | nan | nan | Let me first state unequivocally that I have in no way been a big fan of Tilray (NASDAQ: TLRY) . Last November, I called Tilray the most dangerous big marijuana stock on the market . I didn't like the company's lack of transparency in its fourth-quarter update last week, with Tilray not disclosing metrics that most of its peers make readily available.
But there are some investors who have bought and some who continue to buy Tilray instead of other marijuana stocks. They do this despite most analysts choosing Aurora Cannabis (NYSE: ACB) or Canopy Growth (NYSE: CGC) as better picks.
Why would anyone think that Tilray is a better buy than Aurora and Canopy Growth? Here's the most compelling argument for Tilray.
Tilray's biggest advantage
Tilray CEO Brendan Kennedy stated in the company's Q4 conference call that "the United States and European markets are orders of magnitude larger than Canada." He's right. And these global market s present opportunities for a wide range of products beyond dried cannabis and cannabis oils.
Aurora Cannabis and Canopy Growth are targeting the same markets that Tilray is, of course. The executives of these companies recognize the opportunities as much as Kennedy and his team do. But there's one thing that Tilray has done arguably more effectively than either Aurora or Canopy: build a diverse lineup of partners and acquire companies across multiple global sectors.
Sure, Canopy Growth landed the most important deal so far for marijuana producers by teaming up with alcoholic beverage maker Constellation Brands . But Canopy doesn't have partnerships with major companies in other areas outside of the cannabis industry such as consumer products (other than alcohol) and pharmaceuticals.
Aurora Cannabis doesn't have a major partner at all. The company has brought billionaire investor Nelson Peltz on board as a strategic advisor to try to line up some deals, but it remains to be seen what will actually materialize from Peltz's efforts.
Then there's Tilray. The company has multiple well-known partners across several industries. Tilray and big beer maker Anheuser-Busch InBev are working together to research non-alcoholic cannabis-infused beverages . Although the initial deal between the two companies was focused on Canada, Kennedy said in Tilray's Q4 call that "neither party hopes that agreement is just for R&D in Canada."
What about consumer products? Tilray forged a partnership with Authentic Brands Group (ABG) to market and distribute consumer cannabis-infused products. ABG has more than 50 popular brands, including Nine West, Prince, and Spyder, and a solid North American distribution network. Kennedy expects that ABG will launch its first cannabis consumer products by the end of the year.
Tilray first teamed up with Novartis ' Sandoz unit to market medical cannabis products in Canada. That agreement was revised in December 2018 to be a global partnership. Kennedy thinks this relationship is a huge plus for Tilray. As he put it, "When [physicians and pharmacists] see that Sandoz, a Novartis division, label on our products, it inspires confidence and trust. It builds a halo around our brands."
Last, but not least, Tilray's acquisition of Manitoba Harvest gives the company immediate access to the hemp CBD market in the U.S. Manitoba Harvest is the largest hemp food manufacturer in the world. Its hemp products are already sold in 16,000 retail locations, with around 13,000 of those locations in the U.S.
Defying conventional wisdom
The conventional wisdom is that it's best for Canadian marijuana producers to build massive production capacity and find a partner to invest a boatload of money. That's what Canopy Growth has done. Aurora has checked off the first item and hopes to achieve the second one.
Tilray, though, is defying conventional wisdom. The company's production capacity isn't nearly as great as several of its peers. Tilray's deals with big players outside of the cannabis industry haven't involved significant investments by those companies in Tilray.
But I have to admit, it could be smart to buck the conventional wisdom. Tilray isn't tied down to one partner as it might be if a big company owned a huge stake in it. If the company can successfully execute on its strategy, Tilray could even conceivably be the biggest independent marijuana business left standing if Constellation buys a controlling stake in Canopy Growth and Aurora finds a partner to buy it also.
As for production capacity, Tilray should be able to produce around 90,000 kilograms annually by the end of this year. That doesn't include the added capacity that its acquisition of Natura Naturals will bring. And Kennedy said that increasing capacity is now the company's No. 1 objective.
A better buy?
So is Tilray actually a better buy than Aurora Cannabis or Canopy Growth? Despite making the best argument that I could, I'm still not convinced.
Tilray deserves credit for making deals that could help make the company a huge winner over the long run. It also has built a solid management team chock-full of individuals with great experience in the industries that it hopes to disrupt.
But Canopy Growth, in particular, has something that Tilray doesn't have: a lot of cash that didn't require dilution or debt. Constellation Brands brought $4 billion to the table that Canopy is already using to fund its expansion efforts. Aurora Cannabis is almost certainly hoping for a similar deal. Meanwhile, Tilray must either issue new shares (causing dilution) or issue senior convertible notes (increasing its debt and potentially causing dilution down the road) to raise cash for its initiatives.
Canopy and Aurora also already have the production capacity that Tilray is just getting around to building. A company can only sell what it can supply. Tilray is likely to have to continue sourcing a lot of its cannabis from third-party suppliers -- and that means lower profit margins.
Maybe Tilray will be a better marijuana stock to buy than Aurora Cannabis and Canopy Growth at some point. In my view, though, that time hasn't arrived yet.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Tilray forged a partnership with Authentic Brands Group (ABG) to market and distribute consumer cannabis-infused products. ABG has more than 50 popular brands, including Nine West, Prince, and Spyder, and a solid North American distribution network. Kennedy expects that ABG will launch its first cannabis consumer products by the end of the year. | Tilray forged a partnership with Authentic Brands Group (ABG) to market and distribute consumer cannabis-infused products. ABG has more than 50 popular brands, including Nine West, Prince, and Spyder, and a solid North American distribution network. Kennedy expects that ABG will launch its first cannabis consumer products by the end of the year. | Tilray forged a partnership with Authentic Brands Group (ABG) to market and distribute consumer cannabis-infused products. ABG has more than 50 popular brands, including Nine West, Prince, and Spyder, and a solid North American distribution network. Kennedy expects that ABG will launch its first cannabis consumer products by the end of the year. | Tilray forged a partnership with Authentic Brands Group (ABG) to market and distribute consumer cannabis-infused products. ABG has more than 50 popular brands, including Nine West, Prince, and Spyder, and a solid North American distribution network. Kennedy expects that ABG will launch its first cannabis consumer products by the end of the year. |
28780.0 | 2019-02-10 00:00:00 UTC | The Marijuana Stock That Wall Street Thinks Will be the Biggest Winner This Year | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/marijuana-stock-wall-street-thinks-will-be-biggest-winner-year-2019-02-10 | nan | nan | Weed has made it to Wall Street in a big way. Three marijuana stocks currently trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), with another recently applying to be listed . Two marijuana stocks are listed on the Nasdaq .
Wall Street is quite bullish on several of the top marijuana stocks, with expectations of huge increases over the next 12 months . But there's one big marijuana stock that appears to have analysts more excited than any other. Which stock is it? I was surprised to learn that the answer is Tilray (NASDAQ: TLRY) .
What analysts like about Tilray
The consensus analysts' one-year price target for Tilray represents an upside of nearly 70% over the current share price. One especially optimistic analyst thinks Tilray could soar more than 150% over the next year. Even the most pessimistic analyst surveyed by The Wall Street Journal projects that Tilray's share price should still increase by around 8% above the current level.
One thing analysts probably like about Tilray is the company's management team. CEO Brendan Kennedy served as managing director and then chief operating officer of Silicon Valley Bank Analytics before founding cannabis-focused private investment firm Privateer Holdings in 2011. Privateer Holdings formed Tilray in 2013.
Kennedy is surrounded by a strong executive team, including individuals with solid credentials spanning multiple industries. Tilray recently hired several new vice presidents who have impressive backgrounds with companies that market well-known consumer brands.
Analysts also probably have a favorable view of Tilray's recent deals. The company announced a partnership with giant beer-maker Anheuser-Busch InBev in December to research non-alcoholic cannabis-infused beverages. In January, Tilray signed a revenue-sharing agreement with Authentic Brands Group (ABG) to market consumer cannabis products under ABG's brands, including Nine West and Prince. The company quickly followed with another deal to buy Ontario-based marijuana grower Natura Naturals .
While a couple of its peers have received significant investments from major companies outside the cannabis industry, Tilray hasn't done so yet. Analysts probably view Tilray as a prime candidate for a similar deal in the future.
Runners-up
Tilray stands at the front of the pack as far as analysts are concerned. But three other top Canadian marijuana stocks aren't far behind.
Analysts think Aurora Cannabis (NYSE: ACB) could rise by 56% over the next 12 months. Like Tilray, Aurora Cannabis hasn't received an equity investment from a big company outside the cannabis industry. Aurora has been aggressive on the acquisitions front over the past two years and claims the largest production capacity in the industry as a result.
Canopy Growth (NYSE: CGC) is king of the mountain among marijuana stocks in terms of market cap. Analysts think the marijuana producer will get even bigger, with a one-year price target reflecting a 53% premium above Canopy's current share price.
Wall Street also appears to think Aphria 's (NYSE: APHA) comeback will continue. The marijuana stock was beaten down after short-sellers alleged the company drastically overpaid for an acquisition of LATAM Holdings in a deal that profited key insiders. Aphria has rebounded significantly from its drop after those allegations became public, though. Analysts expect the stock to jump another 50% over the next 12 months.
The only marijuana stock listed on a U.S. exchange that analysts aren't optimistic about is Cronos Group (NASDAQ: CRON) . In fact, the consensus price target for Cronos reflects a double-digit percentage drop from its current share price.
Are the analysts right?
I don't agree with analysts' negativity about Cronos Group. And so far this year, the naysayers have been proven wrong. Cronos was one of the three hottest marijuana stocks of January and has essentially doubled year to date.
I'm also skeptical that Tilray will be the best performer of the big Canadian marijuana stocks. The company dodged a bullet to some extent a few weeks ago, when Privateer Holdings announced that it wouldn't sell any of its stock during the first half of 2019. However, the firm didn't commit to not taking profits after then. With Privateer owning 76% of Tilray's outstanding shares, any significant selling later this year could weigh on Tilray's share price.
But Wall Street is on the right track, in my view, with its overall bullishness about marijuana stocks. I suspect that the growing Canadian recreational-marijuana market, expanding international medical marijuana markets, and the opening of the legal hemp market in the U.S. will be nice catalysts in 2019 and beyond.
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Keith Speights has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Anheuser-Busch InBev NV and Nasdaq. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | In January, Tilray signed a revenue-sharing agreement with Authentic Brands Group (ABG) to market consumer cannabis products under ABG's brands, including Nine West and Prince. Even the most pessimistic analyst surveyed by The Wall Street Journal projects that Tilray's share price should still increase by around 8% above the current level. The marijuana stock was beaten down after short-sellers alleged the company drastically overpaid for an acquisition of LATAM Holdings in a deal that profited key insiders. | In January, Tilray signed a revenue-sharing agreement with Authentic Brands Group (ABG) to market consumer cannabis products under ABG's brands, including Nine West and Prince. Like Tilray, Aurora Cannabis hasn't received an equity investment from a big company outside the cannabis industry. The only marijuana stock listed on a U.S. exchange that analysts aren't optimistic about is Cronos Group (NASDAQ: CRON) . | In January, Tilray signed a revenue-sharing agreement with Authentic Brands Group (ABG) to market consumer cannabis products under ABG's brands, including Nine West and Prince. What analysts like about Tilray The consensus analysts' one-year price target for Tilray represents an upside of nearly 70% over the current share price. The only marijuana stock listed on a U.S. exchange that analysts aren't optimistic about is Cronos Group (NASDAQ: CRON) . | In January, Tilray signed a revenue-sharing agreement with Authentic Brands Group (ABG) to market consumer cannabis products under ABG's brands, including Nine West and Prince. Two marijuana stocks are listed on the Nasdaq . Which stock is it? |
28781.0 | 2019-02-07 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) Q4 2018 Earnings Conference Call Transcript | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-group-abg-q4-2018-earnings-conference-call-transcript-2019-02-07 | nan | nan | Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG)
Q4 2018 Earnings Conference Call
Feb. 6, 2019 10:00 a.m. ET
Contents:
Prepared Remarks
Questions and Answers
Call Participants
Prepared Remarks:
Operator
Please stand by. Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Asbury Automotive Group Q4 and year-end 2018 earnings call . Today's conference is being recorded. And at this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Matt Pettoni.
Please go ahead, sir.
Matt Pettoni -- Regional Digital Marketing Manager
Thanks, operator, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Asbury Automotive Group's fourth-quarter 2018 earnings call. Today's call is being recorded and will be available for replay later today. The press release detailing Asbury's fourth-quarter results was issued earlier this morning and is posted on our website at asburyauto.com.
Participating with us today are David Hult, our president and chief executive officer; John Hartman, our senior vice president of operations; and Sean Goodman, our senior vice president and chief financial officer. At the conclusion of our remarks, we will open the call up for questions, and I will be available later for any follow-up questions. Before we begin, I must remind you that the discussion during the call today is likely to contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements other than those, which are historical in nature.
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All forward-looking statements are subject to significant uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those suggested by the statements. For information regarding certain of the risks that may cause actual results to differ, please see our filings with the SEC from time to time, including our Form 10-K for the year ended December 2017, any subsequently filed quarterly report on Form 10-Q and our earnings release issued earlier today. We expressly disclaim any responsibility to update forward-looking statements. In addition, certain non-GAAP financial measures, as defined under SEC rules, may be discussed on this call.
As required by applicable SEC rules, we provide reconciliations of any such non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure on our website. It is my pleasure to hand the call over to our CEO David Hult. David?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thanks Matt, and good morning everyone. 2018 was a record year for Asbury. In a flat SAAR environment, we generated $6.9 billion of revenue, retailed over 185,000 vehicles, serviced over 2 million vehicles, delivered front-end yield per vehicle over $3,100, grew parts and service gross profit by 5%, achieved an adjusted operating margin of 4.6%, and grew adjusted earnings per share by 31% to a record of $8.41. Our success was driven by growth in our used vehicle business, higher F&I gross profit, and continued solid growth in parts and service.
This was coupled with a balanced approach to SG&A, disciplined spending while at the same time investing in our future by developing omni-channel capabilities. During 2018, we continued our strategy of balanced capital allocation, seeking the highest risk-adjusted return through investments in our existing business, acquiring new stores, and returning capital to our shareholders. During 2018, we repurchased $105 million of our shares, we acquired and integrated three stores and we recently signed an agreement to acquire four stores in the Indianapolis market that we expect to close in Q1 of '19, subject to customary closing conditions. With this transaction, our total stores in the Indianapolis market will increase to seven.
Turning to the future. To capitalize on our unused fixed capacity and enhanced employee retention, on Monday, we announced the package of industry leading benefits for revenue-producing associates. These benefits include subsidized medical plans, education grants, a four-day work week, extended vacation time, paid maternity leaves, and equity grants. The frontline equity program is expected to be part of Asbury's new equity plan, which is subject to shareholder approval in the second quarter of 2019.
Finally, the omni-channel investments that we have made in the past are the foundation of a differentiated guest-centric retail model that we have been developing for the future. Our frontline associates are critical to our vision, and we are excited to be able to offer them industry leading benefits that we believe will enhance our long-term growth potential. I will now hand the call over to Sean to discuss our Q4 financial performance. Sean?
Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Thank you, David, and good morning, everyone. We are pleased with our operating performance in the fourth quarter. Overall, compared to the prior year fourth quarter, revenue increased by 7% and gross profit increased by 5%. Gross margin of 15.8% was 30 basis points lower than last year.
SG&A, as a percentage of gross profit, increased by 90 basis points to 68.2%. Adjusted operating margin of 4.5% was 20 basis points lower than last year. Our adjusted net income increased by 14% to $43.2 million and adjusted earnings per share increased by 22% to $2.20. This year we implemented accounting standard ASC 606 for revenue recognition.
The net impact of adopting ASC 606 in the fourth quarter was to increase net income by $1.2 million or $0.06 per diluted share. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2018 was adjusted for a $3.7 million pre-tax noncash charge or $0.14 per diluted share for franchise rights impairments. Our effective tax rate was 25.3% for the quarter, up from 21.9% in the fourth quarter of 2017, and our full-year tax rate was 25.3%. We successfully managed our SG&A expenses during the quarter to achieve SG&A as a percentage of gross profit of 68.2%.
This is despite continued omni-channel investments that for the year exceeded $10 million. Overall, SG&A, as a percentage of gross profit for 2018 was 68.5%, down 60 basis points from the prior year. Floor plan interest expense in Q4 increased by $4 million over the prior year, driven mainly by higher interest rates. I'll remind you that our floor plan debt has a floating interest rate while all other debt is fixed rate.
At the end of the quarter, our total leverage ratio stood at 2.9 times and our net leverage ratio at 2.5 times, thanks to our strong operating results and solid cash flow generation. A 2.5 times net leverage ratio is at the low end of our targeted range of 2.5 to 3 times. We believe that this positions us well to capitalize our potential attractive future capital deployment opportunities while taking into consideration the economic cycle. We repurchased $48 million of our own shares in Q4, bringing the total share repurchases for 2018 to $105 million.
Our remaining share repurchase authorization stands at $82 million. In 2018, we spent $40 million on nonreal estate-related capital expenditures and approximately $69 million on three acquisitions. From a liquidity perspective, we ended the quarter with $8 million in cash, $33 million available in floor plan offset accounts, $78 million available on our used vehicle line, and $237 million available on our revolving credit lines. Before I pass the call over to John, I would like to make a few comments regarding our expectations for 2019.
We are planning our business for a declining SAAR with an expectation of between 16.5 million and 17 million units. The four stores in the Indianapolis market that David mentioned in his remarks are expected to close during Q1 of 2019 and generate approximately $250 million of annualized revenue. We expect front-end yield per vehicle to remain stable at around $3,100 with any pressure on vehicle margins being offset by F&I. We believe that we can continue to grow our parts and services gross profit in the mid-single digit range.
We expect SG&A, as a percentage of gross profit, to be in the range of 69% to 70%. This reflects our balanced approach to SG&A with disciplined spending while at the same time investing in our future. This guidance includes the impact of expected lower sales volumes, accelerated investments in our omni-channel capabilities, and additional costs associated with the enhanced benefits packages that we are providing to frontline associates in 2019. Based on the current forward liable curve, the average interest rate in 2019 should be approximately 100 basis points higher than in 2018.
Note that a 1% increase in interest rate results in additional interest expense on our floor plan debt of approximately $9 million. We expect our tax rate in 2019 to be between 25% and 26%. Finally, we are planning for CAPEX of approximately $55 million. This amount excludes any real estate purchases and potential lease buyout opportunities that we consider to be financing transactions.
I would now like to hand the call over to John to walk us through the Q4 2018 operating performance in more detail. John?
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Thank you, Sean. My remarks will pertain to our same-store performance compared to the fourth quarter of 2017. Looking at new vehicles, our new unit sales were up 2% while SAAR was down 1% from the prior year as we took market share in most of our brands. Our new car margin was 4.3%, flat versus last quarter and 50 basis points lower than last year.
Though margins were down in all segments, we experienced volume growth across our brand portfolio and delivered a front-end yield of $3,229. Our total new vehicle inventory was $865 million and day supply at 67 within our targeted range. Turning to used vehicles. This quarter, we were able to increase our used to new ratio by 160 basis points, resulting in used vehicles unit sales increasing by 5% and used vehicle gross profit increasing by 7%.
The successful deployment of our omni-channel initiatives and used car enterprise software help us drive these strong results. Our used vehicle inventory of $159 million was at a 34-day supply, which is within our targeted range of 30 to 35 days. Turning to F&I, our team continues to deliver strong results. F&I gross profit increased by 3% due to increased volume sales.
Our F&I gross profit per vehicle decreased slightly to $1,648. Turning to parts and service. Our parts and service revenue and gross profit increased by 5%. This was achieved with a 6% increase in customer pay.
The improved used vehicle sales drove reconditioning work within parts and service to increase by 5%. I would like to take a moment to give you an update on the progress of some of our omni-channel initiatives. We are currently over halfway through the rollout of our centralized brand-certified digital sales team and we are on schedule to onboard the remaining stores within the next six months. Stores participating in the program during this quarter increased digital sales by almost 20% year over year.
Our PUSHSTART online sales tool handled over 3,900 vehicle sales in the quarter, which is approximately 8% of our total retail units. We continue to grow traffic utilizing our digital parts and service scheduling tool and we reached a record of 114,000 online service appointments, which is up 24% from the prior year. We are excited about our omni-channel driven growth, and we are pleased that we've been able to invest in building these capabilities while maintaining our SG&A discipline. In conclusion, we would like to express our appreciation to all our teammates in the field and our support center, who continue to produce best-in-class performance and drive us toward our vision of being the most guest-centric company in the automotive retail industry.
We will now turn the call over to the operator and take your questions. Operator?
Questions and Answers:
Operator
Thank you, sir. [Operator instructions] And going first to Rick Nelson at Stephens.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst
Thanks. Good morning. Nice quarter. I want to ask about the acquisition environment.
You acquired four more stores. Your appetite, considering the cycle and your balance sheet, seems to be in great shape and you've got the opportunity to execute, but just wondering how aggressive you want to get along those lines?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Rick, this is David. I'll say, we -- I don't think aggressive would be fair to term it that way. We're kind of looking at it as opportunistic. We've looked at a lot of deals in the last 12 months and only closed on three and got these other ones in Indianapolis that we're about to acquire.
We're really looking at the deal from -- what's best for our shareholders, what will integrate well into Asbury, and the culture that we are trying to create, and make sure that we can be thoughtful stewards of the business. So, I think our disciplined approach to M&A and not getting overly excited or falling in love with a deal, for lack of a better term, is the approach that we'll continue to have. We do see the market getting hotter. We do see a lot of opportunities come up.
But it's far too early in the game to tell whether they'll be good opportunities for Asbury or not.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst
All right. Thanks for that color. Also I'd like to ask about PUSHSTART, 8% of sales, the opportunity there and if you could compare the profitability on a PUSHSTART sale with an in-store sale that would be helpful.
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
We see continued opportunity with PUSHSTART. We've built out the experience, so it's basically front to back. I think we're looking for that percent to increase over time as a percent of sales as consumers get more used to the tool that is available. As far as the deal in the gross profit, there's no material difference between the in-store experience and what we're seeing online.
The big thing is the experience for the consumers, so I think moving forward that business will continue to grow and that percent will continue to grow. But we don't see a material difference between the in-store experience as far as the gross and what the consumers are doing online.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
The only thing I'll add to that Rick, from the last call that we had with you all. We finally executed DocuSign, and we have several of our documents on DocuSign for consumers to transact online with us. Certainly not the full deal. We still have many states that require Web signatures, but we're constantly progressing in that area.
To include uploading insurance information, drivers' licenses, facilitating the trade much easier, and instant decisioning with our API connections with RouteOne and DealerTrack.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst
Can you provide home delivery if the customer asks for that? What percent of --
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
We'll absolutely.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst
Sales would in fact be on delivery?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
We've been doing it for a few years now. Initially when we went into it, we were -- we thought it would be close to half and half. It traditionally runs 70% to 75% of the consumers picking up at the dealership and 25% to 30% delivery. And the main reason for them wanting to come to the facility is really to create that relationship with the service center.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst
Are you having more success with new cars with PUSHSTART or used cars?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
That too is fluctuated. Early on, we expect it to be more pre-owned than new, and it was just the opposite. It was more new than pre-owned and it was -- actually, the volume, midline import cars that were taking up the percentage of it. It does seem to fluctuate by quarter and today, it runs a little bit more pre-owned than new, but pretty close.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst
And your expectation now for a stable front-end yield that incorporates lower gross profit on vehicle and higher F&I per unit?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
When I look back at the fourth quarter of 2015, which is a tremendous year for us, and I look at now, our total front-end yield is pretty similar to what it was four years within a few -- $40 or so. So, as the front end has gone down, F&I has gone up, but certainly those will reach a peak. We see it stabilizing. We see it staying in this area based on what we have now.
The toughest part of forecasting that PVR for this year is really going to be our partnership with the OEMs and what comes out from incentives this year. We saw it in the fourth quarter. We're already seeing it now in the first quarter, very reactionary incentives coming out that weren't planned. So very difficult to model, but we feel very confident that we'll certainly be above the $3,100 number.
Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst
Great. Thanks and good luck.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Thanks Rick.
Operator
And moving next to Bret Jordan at Jefferies.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Hey. Good morning, guys. A quick question on the new comp plan. I guess, sort of -- does it indicate a more aggressive hiring environment in this space or is this something to sort of keep the active sales people involved despite maybe a volume turndown? I mean, I guess, are people are trying to hire away or is it just sort of trying to keep people in the business?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes, I would say the technician piece is certainly a competitive market and everyone wants them. We try to be thoughtful. A year ago when everyone got the break with the tax incentives and what we are going to do for the associates, and a lot of companies gave a flat dollar amount. We kind of wanted to have a more thoughtful approach and give something that paid out over time as we certainly benefit from it as well.
We've also been working on what we think is our future retail model, and this is really just kind of falls in line with our plan and where we're at. If you want to create great numbers and be the best, you have to employ the best and have the best. And we thought these benefits would differentiate us from our peers and hopefully, give us an opportunity to grow. We've said this over the years.
From a fixed standpoint, we don't have a brick-and-mortar issue. We can certainly grow a large amount with our current brick-and-mortar set up. We need to fill the service base. So, this is certainly one attempt to do that while also taking care of our associates that are generating and running our business today.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
OK. And this question sort of follows on that. I guess, as you look at your customer pay service, it was up pretty nicely. How do you feel about that number versus the local market growth? Are you taking share or did you just see strength in service demand across your geographies?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes, it's -- Bret, it's really difficult for me to say how we're doing in the market, other than what I can see with that brand across the peers, but I can't see the independence in what they are doing. I would tell you that there is a huge space out there. We all know about the 270 million cars on the street. So, our potential and our runway is great.
And our continued growth is really going to be based on how well we service and communicate with our customers and create that guest-centric model I was discussing while filling the base with the additional tax. But I'm very optimistic and know how much capacity and available time or dollars are out there for us to really grow our business. And I think a very disciplined and thoughtful approach in making sure that we're not doing a knee-jerk reaction is imperative, and that's exactly what we think this plan is.
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Yes, great. Thank you.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Thank you.
Operator
And we'll go next to John Murphy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Unidentified speaker
Hi, guys. This is Jordan on for John. Congratulations on the quarter. So, first, could you maybe talk about how you're thinking about your earnings sensitivity to the SAAR? And especially given the very strong results this year on flat industry sales, I guess, as we potentially head into a decline in the U.S.
market, what kind of sales level do you think it will take to keep your earnings flat?
Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Jordan, it's Sean. Look, we disclosed in our investor presentation that around 70% to 80% of our SG&A costs are variable. And this really does moderate the impact of a downturn scenario on our results. And so, that's one thing to consider.
The other thing to consider is that, the SAAR impacts our new car sales, and to a certain extent our used car sales, but almost 50% of our gross profit comes from parts and services. And parts and services is a relatively stable part of our business and we've seen that over the economic cycle. And so, we expect to be able to continue to grow that part of the business even in a declining SAAR environment.
Unidentified speaker
OK. Makes sense. Thank you. And then on your omni-channel efforts, you've highlighted in the press release to help you lower cost.
I was wondering, maybe are you willing to share some specifics around that? And I guess, as this new initiative develope, where are you seeing the greatest opportunity in terms of cost reductions?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes, I wouldn't want to get into specifics, but I would tell you the ability with software, the educated consumer what they're spending -- the time that they're investing online, educating themselves on what they want allows us to be more efficient and flatter at our personnel expense and our operating expenses. So, I think there is a lot of benefits to come in the future. This is starting for us, but we're confident we've landed on the right model for the future, and we're just really starting to attack that right now. But it's mainly through personnel expense and the ability of software.
Unidentified speaker
OK. I mean, I think you noted you've invested over $10 million in those capabilities last year. So, should we expect a similar level of investment in 2019?
Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
I think the way to think about 2019 is we guided to SG&A expenses of between 69% and 70% of gross profit. And included in that guidance is, one, the continuation of the omni-channel investments that we started back in 2017; two, in there is the enhanced benefits packages that we spoke about earlier; and then three, is also the equity program for frontline associates. So, all of those investments are included in that SG&A number. And because of our sort of two-pronged approach to SG&A, we'll be very disciplined in our expenditure, but also we invest for the long-term through SG&A as well.
We are able to keep our SG&A in the 69% to 70% range, which is roughly about 100 basis points higher than we were in 2018, where our SG&A for the full year is 68.5%
Unidentified speaker
OK. That's very helpful. Thank you so mucu. That's it for me.
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Thank you.
Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Thanks.
Operator
And next we'll go to Armintas Sinkevicius at Morgan Stanley. Sir?
Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Good morning. Thank you for taking the question. When I look at F&I, that -- the chart in your slide deck is up into the right, which is a testament to your execution ability, but as you talk about the $3,100 front-end yield supported by F&I, how do we think about peak F&I? What is the run room here and just sort of any context you can provide around that?
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
This is John. [Inaudible]
Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
And then what the drivers -- sorry, historically have been around F&I as far as -- is it -- what's been driving the move higher here?
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
So, two things. First of all, I think there's more room in F&I. As a company, we focus on the bottom half of our producers and try to get them up to average. And when we can get them up to average, it lifts the whole.
As far as what's driving it, there's been a shift over time. We focus on product sales, we're about two-thirds product sales now and one-third reserve. So, it's really focusing on those penetration levels, on service contracts and products to increase the number.
Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
OK. And anyway to contextualize sort of the remaining room on F&I?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
[Inaudible] This is David. I would say there is a couple of peers that are ahead of us and do a better job with F&I than we do. And I wouldn't -- there is no reason we certainly can't get to those numbers. This is the old addage.
You get the bottom half and fix that and you'll have a material impact, but life happens as you're running the business. So, we're continuing to strive at it. We've had solid growth, but we certainly see an opportunity to grow it even more.
Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
OK. And then with your PUSHSTART initiative and the delivery ability, can you talk about -- do you use third-party logistics, do you use your in-house logistics or -- and how you think about that going forward?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes, it's all in-house. There have been some one-offs that have been significant distance for deliveries where we have used third parties. But other than that, the vast majority is in-house.
Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
OK. Great. Thank you for taking the question.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Next we'll go to Chris Bottiglieri at Wolfe Research.
Chris Bottiglieri -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst
Hi. Thanks for taking the question. I guess, the first one, to follow up on parts and services guide. I know you addressed this earlier, but kind of surprised Q4 was strong and the guide says strong for next year just given kind of a number of years of flat to declining SAAR.
So, I guess like would that predict behind, was there any accounting, like how much is the accounting change benefit, was there any benefit from the hurricane compare or the number of selling days? Like, anything to think about that Q4 number?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
I'll jump in and Sean can follow. No, the hurricanes that happened, certainly anyone that had stores in southern area of Texas was a big deal. We didn't. We had one store in Houston, so the hurricane wasn't a material impact last year or naturally this year with the comps.
The hurricanes we had in Florida were not damaging and really there weren't any vehicle loss or anything like that. So, I would say no. This industry as a whole, especially on the retail dealer side, has tremendous potential to grow its service retention numbers. And I think it's just our -- I'll speak for us, we have a very thoughtful and steady approach to growing it and I hope this comment comes across the right way.
We're not trying to mass market and bring a lot of people in because if you can't bring them in and handle them timely and pay attention to their cycle time and their transaction time, how quickly it is, you're just going to bring them in. They'll never come back to you. So, we're very thoughtful about how much traffic we increased to make sure that we can handle at the store level and service our customers with a great experience. And then we're slowly trying to build on that.
Chris Bottiglieri -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst
Gotcha. And then do you think it's --
Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Sorry, I'll just add in on that because I think you mentioned was there an accounting impact. There was no impact from the revenue recognition accounting in Q4. And a very small negative impact for the full year of about $600,000 on gross profit for parts and services, so no real accounting impact there.
Chris Bottiglieri -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst
That's really helpful. And I'm thinking kind of about -- do you think that it's just that your scale is allowing you take share from other franchise dealers without a significant scale and digital capabilities? Or do you think there is some secular channel shift going on where customers that previously might have gone to like independent repairs shops are now moving toward franchised dealers? Or anything like that, that's driving it?
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
It's one person's opinion, so please take it at that. These cars, it's different than 10 to 15 years ago. The sophistication technologies in these cars are much different. Most of the independents are not able to work on the vehicles.
They don't have the special tools to work on them and they certainly don't have the manufacturer training to work on them. So, I mean, even as you look forward with electrification and everything else, it's only going to grow even more to push more business toward the dealers. So, for those that are worried about electric vehicles and what's going to happen to parts and service, I would respectfully say it's going be a long time before there is an impact, No.1, because right now electric vehicles have a lot of warranty work on them. While the typical mechanical that isn't there, there's a lot more warranty because of the software and that's certainly going to be for a long time.
But as the dollars come down even years beyond that, you're going to see retention numbers really jump because the independents really won't be able to service these vehicles, but that's our opinion.
Chris Bottiglieri -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst
No, gotcha. That's helpful. Thank you for the time. Appreciate it.
Operator
And next we'll move to Stephanie Benjamin at SunTrust.
Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst
Hi, good morning. I just kind of wanted to ask about the current incentive environment and if you've seen really any material change in the fourth quarter. I know you said you felt that most incentives are pretty reactionary and just kind of what the expectations are through 2019? Thanks.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Typically the fourth quarter, the manufacturers because of the year end offer very strong incentives. So, there was good incentives going through for the whole fourth quarter, and but moving forward, we can't predict what they're going to do. Some of them have been reactionary, but specifically the luxury stores in Q4 have very good incentives.
Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst
Got it. I appreciate it. Thanks.
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
This concludes today's discussion. We appreciate your participation and certainly look forward to speaking with you in April. Thank you very much. Have a great day.
Operator
[Operator signoff]
Duration: 37 minutes
Call Participants:
Matt Pettoni -- Regional Digital Marketing Manager
David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst
Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst
John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations
Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Chris Bottiglieri -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst
Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst
More ABG analysis
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG) Q4 2018 Earnings Conference Call Feb. 6, 2019 10:00 a.m. Operator [Operator signoff] Duration: 37 minutes Call Participants: Matt Pettoni -- Regional Digital Marketing Manager David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Chris Bottiglieri -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst More ABG analysis This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. In conclusion, we would like to express our appreciation to all our teammates in the field and our support center, who continue to produce best-in-class performance and drive us toward our vision of being the most guest-centric company in the automotive retail industry. | Operator [Operator signoff] Duration: 37 minutes Call Participants: Matt Pettoni -- Regional Digital Marketing Manager David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Chris Bottiglieri -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst More ABG analysis This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG) Q4 2018 Earnings Conference Call Feb. 6, 2019 10:00 a.m. Participating with us today are David Hult, our president and chief executive officer; John Hartman, our senior vice president of operations; and Sean Goodman, our senior vice president and chief financial officer. | Operator [Operator signoff] Duration: 37 minutes Call Participants: Matt Pettoni -- Regional Digital Marketing Manager David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Chris Bottiglieri -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst More ABG analysis This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG) Q4 2018 Earnings Conference Call Feb. 6, 2019 10:00 a.m. Participating with us today are David Hult, our president and chief executive officer; John Hartman, our senior vice president of operations; and Sean Goodman, our senior vice president and chief financial officer. | Operator [Operator signoff] Duration: 37 minutes Call Participants: Matt Pettoni -- Regional Digital Marketing Manager David Hult -- President and Chief Executive Officer Sean Goodman -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations Rick Nelson -- Stephens -- Analyst Bret Jordan -- Jefferies -- Analyst John Hartman -- Senior Vice President of Operations Armintas Sinkevicius -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst Chris Bottiglieri -- Wolfe Research -- Analyst Stephanie Benjamin -- SunTrust Robinson Humphrey -- Analyst More ABG analysis This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG) Q4 2018 Earnings Conference Call Feb. 6, 2019 10:00 a.m. We will now turn the call over to the operator and take your questions. |
28782.0 | 2019-02-06 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) Q4 Earnings and Revenues Beat Estimates | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-group-abg-q4-earnings-and-revenues-beat-estimates-2019-02-06 | nan | nan | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) came out with quarterly earnings of $2.20 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.07 per share. This compares to earnings of $1.81 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.
This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 6.28%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this auto dealership chain would pos t earnings of $1.85 per share when it actually produced earnings of $2.21, delivering a surprise of 19.46%.
Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times.
Asbury Automotive, which belongs to the Zacks Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry, posted revenues of $1.78 billion for the quarter ended December 2018, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.22%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $1.67 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates four times over the last four quarters.
The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call .
Asbury Automotive shares have added about 8.7% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 9.2%.
What's Next for Asbury Automotive?
While Asbury Automotive has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock?
There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately.
Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power o f earnings estimate revisions.
Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Asbury Automotive was favorable. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to outperform the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here .
It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $2.04 on $1.66 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and $8.49 on $6.82 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year.
Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales is currently in the top 15% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) came out with quarterly earnings of $2.20 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.07 per share. Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. | Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) came out with quarterly earnings of $2.20 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.07 per share. Asbury Automotive, which belongs to the Zacks Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry, posted revenues of $1.78 billion for the quarter ended December 2018, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.22%. | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) came out with quarterly earnings of $2.20 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.07 per share. Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Asbury Automotive, which belongs to the Zacks Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry, posted revenues of $1.78 billion for the quarter ended December 2018, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.22%. | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) came out with quarterly earnings of $2.20 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.07 per share. Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) for the stock. |
28783.0 | 2019-01-30 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) Earnings Expected to Grow: What to Know Ahead of Next Week's Release | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-group-abg-earnings-expected-to-grow%3A-what-to-know-ahead-of-next-weeks-0 | nan | nan | Wall Street expects a year-over-year increase in earnings on higher revenues when Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) reports results for the quarter ended December 2018. While this widely-known consensus outlook is important in gauging the company's earnings picture, a powerful factor that could impact its near-term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates.
The stock might move higher if these key numbers top expectations in the upcoming earnings report, which is expected to be released on February 6. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower.
While the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call , it's worth handicapping the probability of a positive EPS surprise.
Zacks Consensus Estimate
This auto dealership chain is expected to pos t quarterly earnings of $2.06 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +13.8%.
Revenues are expected to be $1.76 billion, up 5.5% from the year-ago quarter.
Estimate Revisions Trend
The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0.16% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period.
Investors should keep in mind that the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts may not always get reflected in the aggregate change.
Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Earnings Whisper
Estimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. Our proprietary surprise prediction model -- the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) -- has this insight at its core.
The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a version of the Zacks Consensus whose definition is subject to change. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier.
Thus, a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate. However, the model's predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only.
A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time , and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP.
Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss. Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell).
How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for Asbury Automotive?
For Asbury Automotive, the Most Accurate Estimate is higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that analysts have recently become bullish on the company's earnings prospects. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of +0.73%.
On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #2.
So, this combination indicates that Asbury Automotive will most likely beat the consensus EPS estimate.
Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue?
Analysts often consider to what extent a company has been able to match consensus estimates in the past while calculating their estimates for its future earnings. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number.
For the las t report ed quarter, it was expected that Asbury Automotive would pos t earnings of $1.85 per share when it actually produced earnings of $2.21, delivering a surprise of +19.46%.
Over the last four quarters, the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates four times.
Bottom Line
An earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower. Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss.
That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success. This is why it's worth checking a company's Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.
Asbury Automotive appears a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release.
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Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Wall Street expects a year-over-year increase in earnings on higher revenues when Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) reports results for the quarter ended December 2018. Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. While this widely-known consensus outlook is important in gauging the company's earnings picture, a powerful factor that could impact its near-term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates. | Wall Street expects a year-over-year increase in earnings on higher revenues when Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) reports results for the quarter ended December 2018. Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Earnings Whisper Estimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. | Wall Street expects a year-over-year increase in earnings on higher revenues when Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) reports results for the quarter ended December 2018. Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Earnings Whisper Estimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. | Wall Street expects a year-over-year increase in earnings on higher revenues when Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) reports results for the quarter ended December 2018. Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Earnings Whisper Estimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. |
28784.0 | 2019-01-30 00:00:00 UTC | Top Ranked Growth Stocks to Buy for January 30th | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/top-ranked-growth-stocks-to-buy-for-january-30th-2019-01-30 | nan | nan | Here are four stocks with buy ranks and strong growth characteristics for investors to consider today, January 30th :
Esterline Technologies Corporation (ESL) : This specialized manufacturing company, which carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 1.3% over the last 60 days.
Esterline Technologies Corporation Price and Consensus
Esterline Technologies Corporation price-consensus-chart | Esterline Technologies Corporation Quote
Esterline Technologies has a PEG ratio 2.68, compared with 2.81 for the industry. The company possesses a Growth Score of A.
Esterline Technologies Corporation PEG Ratio (TTM)
Esterline Technologies Corporation peg-ratio-ttm | Esterline Technologies Corporation Quote
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) : This automotive retailer, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.1% over the last 60 days.
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Price and Consensus
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote
Asbury Automotive has a PEG ratio 0.52, compared with 1.16 for the industry. The company possesses a Growth Score of B.
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. PEG Ratio (TTM)
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. peg-ratio-ttm | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote
Genuine Parts Company (GPC) : This automotive and industrial parts distributor, which carries a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.2% over the last 60 days.
Genuine Parts Company Price and Consensus
Genuine Parts Company price-consensus-chart | Genuine Parts Company Quote
Genuine Parts has a PEG ratio 3.23, compared with 4.67 for the industry. The company possesses a Growth Score of A.
Genuine Parts Company PEG Ratio (TTM)
Genuine Parts Company peg-ratio-ttm | Genuine Parts Company Quote
inTEST Corporation (INTT) : This thermal management products manufacturer, which carries a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 2.9% over the last 60 days.
inTest Corporation Price and Consensus
inTest Corporation price-consensus-chart | inTest Corporation Quote
inTEST has a PEG ratio 0.71, compared with 0.77 for the industry. The company possesses a Growth Score of A.
inTest Corporation PEG Ratio (TTM)
inTest Corporation peg-ratio-ttm | inTest Corporation Quote
See the full list of top ranked stocks here
Learn more about the Growth score and how it is calculated here .
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inTest Corporation (INTT): Free Stock Analysis Report
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Esterline Technologies Corporation (ESL): Free Stock Analysis Report
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | The company possesses a Growth Score of A. Esterline Technologies Corporation PEG Ratio (TTM) Esterline Technologies Corporation peg-ratio-ttm | Esterline Technologies Corporation Quote Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) : This automotive retailer, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.1% over the last 60 days. Click to get this free report inTest Corporation (INTT): Free Stock Analysis Report Genuine Parts Company (GPC): Free Stock Analysis Report Esterline Technologies Corporation (ESL): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Here are four stocks with buy ranks and strong growth characteristics for investors to consider today, January 30th : Esterline Technologies Corporation (ESL) : This specialized manufacturing company, which carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 1.3% over the last 60 days. | The company possesses a Growth Score of A. Esterline Technologies Corporation PEG Ratio (TTM) Esterline Technologies Corporation peg-ratio-ttm | Esterline Technologies Corporation Quote Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) : This automotive retailer, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.1% over the last 60 days. Click to get this free report inTest Corporation (INTT): Free Stock Analysis Report Genuine Parts Company (GPC): Free Stock Analysis Report Esterline Technologies Corporation (ESL): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. The company possesses a Growth Score of B. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. PEG Ratio (TTM) Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. peg-ratio-ttm | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote Genuine Parts Company (GPC) : This automotive and industrial parts distributor, which carries a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.2% over the last 60 days. | The company possesses a Growth Score of A. Esterline Technologies Corporation PEG Ratio (TTM) Esterline Technologies Corporation peg-ratio-ttm | Esterline Technologies Corporation Quote Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) : This automotive retailer, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.1% over the last 60 days. Click to get this free report inTest Corporation (INTT): Free Stock Analysis Report Genuine Parts Company (GPC): Free Stock Analysis Report Esterline Technologies Corporation (ESL): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. The company possesses a Growth Score of B. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. PEG Ratio (TTM) Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. peg-ratio-ttm | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote Genuine Parts Company (GPC) : This automotive and industrial parts distributor, which carries a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.2% over the last 60 days. | The company possesses a Growth Score of A. Esterline Technologies Corporation PEG Ratio (TTM) Esterline Technologies Corporation peg-ratio-ttm | Esterline Technologies Corporation Quote Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) : This automotive retailer, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.1% over the last 60 days. Click to get this free report inTest Corporation (INTT): Free Stock Analysis Report Genuine Parts Company (GPC): Free Stock Analysis Report Esterline Technologies Corporation (ESL): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Here are four stocks with buy ranks and strong growth characteristics for investors to consider today, January 30th : Esterline Technologies Corporation (ESL) : This specialized manufacturing company, which carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 1.3% over the last 60 days. |
28785.0 | 2019-01-27 00:00:00 UTC | Tilray Just Schooled Aurora Cannabis in Dealmaking -- but Is It the Better Marijuana Stock? | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/tilray-just-schooled-aurora-cannabis-dealmaking-it-better-marijuana-stock-2019-01-27 | nan | nan | You can learn a lot about a company's management team by the deals that it makes and doesn't make. Some executives want to grow through mergers and acquisitions regardless of the cost. Others choose to be more deliberative about how they spend shareholders' money.
Recent deals made by Aurora Cannabis (NYSE: ACB) and Tilray (NASDAQ: TLRY) are especially instructive. In fact, my view is that Tilray just schooled Aurora Cannabis on the right way to make an acquisition. Does this hint at Tilray being the better marijuana stock over the long run?
The art of the deal
Let's examine Tilray's latest acquisition. On Tuesday, the company announced that it was buying Ontario-based marijuana grower Natura Naturals. The total purchase price could be up to 70 million in Canadian dollars, or around US$52 million.
Note the operative words "could be up to," though. Tilray will pay CA$15 million in cash at closing plus CA$20 million in Tilray stock. Additional payments are based on achieving specified quarterly production milestones over a 12-month period.
This structure is smart. Tilray knows exactly what it wants to get from the Natura Naturals deal -- additional production capacity. And if all goes well, the company will get a lot more capacity. Natura Naturals owns a 662,000-square-foot greenhouse, of which 155,000 square feet is currently licensed for production.
There are also other details in Tilray's acquisition of Natura Naturals that are noteworthy. Tilray CEO Brendan Kennedy stated that the deal came only after "an extensive and thorough search for the right supply partner." Tilray said that it "conducted extensive due diligence on Natura's cultivation facility and cannabis products." The company relied on investment firm Cowen to provide a fairness opinion on the transaction.
It's also nice that Tilray was able to fund the acquisition partially through cash. The company's management team has done a good job of preserving the cash raised through its initial public offering (IPO) in July 2018 . While Tilray raised an additional US$450 million by issuing convertible senior notes, the company hasn't diluted the value of existing shares through the issuance of additional stock.
Not so artistic
Then there's Aurora Cannabis' latest deal -- one of many the company has made over the last few years. The marijuana producer announced on Jan. 14, 2019, that it was acquiring Whistler Medical Marijuana. Whistler has a great reputation. The company was one of the original 10 licensed producers in Canada's medical marijuana market and is a leader in the organic cannabis market.
But while Tilray's acquisition of Natura Naturals might demonstrate the art of the deal, Aurora's acquisition isn't so artistic.
Aurora Cannabis is paying CA$175 million (around US$132 million) for Whistler. That's a whole lot more than what Tilray is paying for Natura Naturals. So is Aurora getting a lot more production capacity? Um, no.
Whistler has two production facilities, one of which is fully operational. When the second facility reaches its full capacity, these two facilities will produce a little more than 5,000 kilograms of cannabis annually. Although Aurora thinks that Whistler's second facility will be ready to run this summer, there's no guarantee, considering Health Canada's licensing backlog -- and the company didn't structure the deal to reflect the uncertainty.
Granted, Whistler's organic products command a nice premium over nonorganic cannabis products. However, the math simply doesn't add up to justify the price tag that Aurora is paying for the small company.
It seems that Aurora paid an enormous amount just to get the Whistler brand. Aurora said that Whistler's "iconic brand...resonates strongly across Canada and international markets." But it's debatable whether the Whistler brand will add significant value for Aurora outside of Canada.
Unlike Tilray, Aurora is funding its deal entirely with stock. Also unlike Tilray, Aurora didn't mention seeking any outside advice about the fairness of the price that it's paying for its acquisition.
Smarter pick
My view is that it's pretty clear that Tilray's management team has executed a smarter strategy than Aurora Cannabis' management team has. I get that Aurora felt that it had to play catch-up and went on a buying spree to rapidly boost its capacity. However, some of its deals haven't seemed to be fully thought out.
I think that Tilray, by comparison, has been pretty shrewd in the deals made so far. And I'm not only referring to acquisitions. The company's partnership with Authentic Brands Group (ABG), for example, to market consumer cannabis products under ABG's brands such as Nine West and Prince looks like a good long-term strategic move.
There's an old saying that you should bet on the jockey and not the horse. At least right now, the jockeys at Tilray appear to be outriding the jockeys at Aurora Cannabis. In my view, that makes Tilray a more attractive marijuana stock than Aurora Cannabis over the long run.
Having said that, I don't think that Tilray is the best marijuana stock to buy. Its share price is still expensive, especially considering Tilray's lower production capacity than several of its peers. Tilray appears to be better at dealmaking than Aurora Cannabis, but there are better deals to be found than Tilray right now.
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Keith Speights has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | The company's partnership with Authentic Brands Group (ABG), for example, to market consumer cannabis products under ABG's brands such as Nine West and Prince looks like a good long-term strategic move. The company's management team has done a good job of preserving the cash raised through its initial public offering (IPO) in July 2018 . Although Aurora thinks that Whistler's second facility will be ready to run this summer, there's no guarantee, considering Health Canada's licensing backlog -- and the company didn't structure the deal to reflect the uncertainty. | The company's partnership with Authentic Brands Group (ABG), for example, to market consumer cannabis products under ABG's brands such as Nine West and Prince looks like a good long-term strategic move. Tilray knows exactly what it wants to get from the Natura Naturals deal -- additional production capacity. But while Tilray's acquisition of Natura Naturals might demonstrate the art of the deal, Aurora's acquisition isn't so artistic. | The company's partnership with Authentic Brands Group (ABG), for example, to market consumer cannabis products under ABG's brands such as Nine West and Prince looks like a good long-term strategic move. But while Tilray's acquisition of Natura Naturals might demonstrate the art of the deal, Aurora's acquisition isn't so artistic. In my view, that makes Tilray a more attractive marijuana stock than Aurora Cannabis over the long run. | The company's partnership with Authentic Brands Group (ABG), for example, to market consumer cannabis products under ABG's brands such as Nine West and Prince looks like a good long-term strategic move. Tilray knows exactly what it wants to get from the Natura Naturals deal -- additional production capacity. Whistler has two production facilities, one of which is fully operational. |
28786.0 | 2019-01-26 00:00:00 UTC | Better Marijuana Stock: Tilray vs. KushCo Holdings | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/better-marijuana-stock-tilray-vs-kushco-holdings-2019-01-26 | nan | nan | If you're looking to potentially buy a marijuana stock in 2019, you have plenty of choices. Two marijuana stocks that present great examples of the diversity of options are Tilray (NASDAQ: TLRY) and KushCo Holdings (NASDAQOTH: KSHB) .
Tilray has received a lot of publicity since its initial public offering (IPO) in July 2018 . Shares of the Canadian cannabis producer have more than tripled in value since then, giving Tilray a market cap of almost $7 billion.
KushCo Holdings is much smaller than Tilray and hasn't received as much publicity. Shares of the leading provider of packaging solutions to the U.S. cannabis industry haven't performed very well over the last 12 months, either.
But past publicity and performance don't make one stock better than another. Which of these two marijuana stocks is the better pick now?
The case for Tilray
Tilray claims several tailwinds working in its favor. The most obvious one right now is the Canadian recreational marijuana market, which opened for business in October 2018.
You can expect tremendous revenue growth when Tilray reports its fourth-quarter results in the near future. However, it will only be the tip of the iceberg for the company. Supply constraints continue to be an issue. As Tilray increases its production capacity, its sales will really skyrocket.
There's also a big potential market in Canada that has yet to open up. Regulations for cannabis edibles and concentrates are expected to be finalized in 2019. Tilray and beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBevannounced in December that they were teaming up to research nonalcoholic cannabis-infused beverages that could target this new market opportunity.
But as exciting as the Canadian market is for Tilray, the company's bigger growth driver should stem from expanding globally. Tilray partnered with Novartis ' Sandoz unit to market medical cannabis products in international markets. The company already has a solid presence in the fast-growing German medical marijuana market. It acquired Chile-based Alef Biotechnology to beef up its Latin American operations. Tilray also has subsidiaries in Australia and Portugal.
Tilray can't enter the biggest marijuana market of all yet -- the U.S. -- and retain its stock listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange. However, there's another potentially huge U.S. market that Tilray could soon compete in. The recent U.S. legalization of hemp presents a significant opportunity for the company to develop hemp-based cannabidiol (CBD) products. Market research company Brightfield Group estimates that the U.S. hemp-based CBD market could reach $22 billion by 2022 .
Other consumer products could present another sizable growth opportunity for Tilray. The company recently signed an agreement with Authentic Brands Group (ABG) to market and distribute consumer cannabis products leveraging ABG's popular brands including Nine West, Prince, and Spyder.
The case for KushCo Holdings
Unlike Tilray, KushCo Holdings doesn't sell any cannabis products. But the company has rapidly become the top supplier to the U.S. cannabis industry of packaging solutions that are critical to their businesses, including pop-top bottles, tubes, vaporizer cartridges, and other containers.
KushCo has also ventured beyond its core focus on packaging. A couple of key acquisitions last year opened up new opportunities for KushCo within the cannabis industry. The company now operates a subsidiary that supplies hydrocarbons and solvents that are used in extracting cannabinoids from cannabis plants. KushCo also now has another subsidiary that provides marketing and e-commerce solutions for the cannabis industry.
These moves to vertically integrate position KushCo as a strong player in the U.S. cannabis market. And that market is expanding significantly. Thirty-three U.S. states now allow legal sales of medical cannabis. Ten states have legalized recreational marijuana.
Even though marijuana remains illegal at the federal level in the U.S., the market opportunity is enormous. Analysts project that the U.S. marijuana market will top $22 billion by 2022 , coincidentally close to the same size as the hemp-based CBD market.
KushCo benefits from the U.S. legalization of hemp in several ways. Hemp-based CBD oils should drive higher demand for its packaging solutions. The likelihood of increased vaping of CBD should boost KushCo's vaporizer cartridge sales. Increased extraction of CBD from hemp should fuel demand for the company's solvents.
The U.S. is certainly KushCo's top priority, but the company also has sales operations in Canada. In addition, growing medical cannabis markets in Europe and Latin America present growth opportunities for KushCo.
Better marijuana stock
Both Tilray and KushCo have tremendous potential. But I think that KushCo is the better pick right now.
Tilray's market cap already reflects expectations of enormous growth. The marijuana producer could eventually deliver on those expectations, but it could take a while.
Big growth expectations are also baked into KushCo's share price. Consider, though, that KushCo made roughly 2.5 times the revenue that Tilray did in the two companies' most recently reported quarter, but Tilray's market cap is nearly 16 times higher than KushCo's is.
I like KushCo's prospects in the U.S. marijuana market. I like its prospects in the U.S. hemp market. And I like its global opportunities. Despite its lackluster performance in 2018, I view KushCo Holdings as a top marijuana stock to put on your list for 2019 .
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Keith Speights has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, KushCo Holdings, and Nasdaq. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | The company recently signed an agreement with Authentic Brands Group (ABG) to market and distribute consumer cannabis products leveraging ABG's popular brands including Nine West, Prince, and Spyder. Two marijuana stocks that present great examples of the diversity of options are Tilray (NASDAQ: TLRY) and KushCo Holdings (NASDAQOTH: KSHB) . Tilray and beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBevannounced in December that they were teaming up to research nonalcoholic cannabis-infused beverages that could target this new market opportunity. | The company recently signed an agreement with Authentic Brands Group (ABG) to market and distribute consumer cannabis products leveraging ABG's popular brands including Nine West, Prince, and Spyder. The recent U.S. legalization of hemp presents a significant opportunity for the company to develop hemp-based cannabidiol (CBD) products. The case for KushCo Holdings Unlike Tilray, KushCo Holdings doesn't sell any cannabis products. | The company recently signed an agreement with Authentic Brands Group (ABG) to market and distribute consumer cannabis products leveraging ABG's popular brands including Nine West, Prince, and Spyder. Tilray can't enter the biggest marijuana market of all yet -- the U.S. -- and retain its stock listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange. The case for KushCo Holdings Unlike Tilray, KushCo Holdings doesn't sell any cannabis products. | The company recently signed an agreement with Authentic Brands Group (ABG) to market and distribute consumer cannabis products leveraging ABG's popular brands including Nine West, Prince, and Spyder. Which of these two marijuana stocks is the better pick now? The recent U.S. legalization of hemp presents a significant opportunity for the company to develop hemp-based cannabidiol (CBD) products. |
28787.0 | 2019-01-24 00:00:00 UTC | Top Ranked Growth Stocks to Buy for January 24th | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/top-ranked-growth-stocks-to-buy-for-january-24th-2019-01-24 | nan | nan | Here are four stocks with buy ranks and strong growth characteristics for investors to consider today, January 24th :
WNS (Holdings) Limited (WNS): This business process management company, which carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 5.6% over the last 60 days.
WNS (Holdings) Limited Price and Consensus
WNS (Holdings) Limited price-consensus-chart | WNS (Holdings) Limited Quote
WNS has a PEG ratio 1.45, compared with 2.08 for the industry. The company possesses a Growth Score of B.
WNS (Holdings) Limited PEG Ratio (TTM)
WNS (Holdings) Limited peg-ratio-ttm | WNS (Holdings) Limited Quote
Verint Systems Inc. (VRNT): This value-added services and actionable intelligence solutions provider, which carries a Zacks Rank #1, has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 1% over the last 60 days.
Verint Systems Inc. Price and Consensus
Verint Systems Inc. price-consensus-chart | Verint Systems Inc. Quote
Verint Systems has a PEG ratio 1.47, compared with 3.21 for the industry. The company possesses a Growth Score of B.
Verint Systems Inc. PEG Ratio (TTM)
Verint Systems Inc. peg-ratio-ttm | Verint Systems Inc. Quote
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH): This diversified health care company, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.3% over the last 60 days.
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated Price and Consensus
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated price-consensus-chart | UnitedHealth Group Incorporated Quote
UnitedHealth has a PEG ratio 1.36, compared with 3.59 for the industry. The company possesses a Growth Score of A.
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated PEG Ratio (TTM)
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated peg-ratio-ttm | UnitedHealth Group Incorporated Quote
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): This automotive retailer, which carries a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.1% over the last 60 days.
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Price and Consensus
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote
Asbury Automotive has a PEG ratio 0.53, compared with 1.17 for the industry. The company possesses a Growth Score of B.
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. PEG Ratio (TTM)
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. peg-ratio-ttm | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote
See the full list of top ranked stocks here
Learn more about the Growth score and how it is calculated here .
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | The company possesses a Growth Score of A. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated PEG Ratio (TTM) UnitedHealth Group Incorporated peg-ratio-ttm | UnitedHealth Group Incorporated Quote Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): This automotive retailer, which carries a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.1% over the last 60 days. Click to get this free report WNS (Holdings) Limited (WNS): Free Stock Analysis Report Verint Systems Inc. (VRNT): Get Free Report UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH): Get Free Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Here are four stocks with buy ranks and strong growth characteristics for investors to consider today, January 24th : WNS (Holdings) Limited (WNS): This business process management company, which carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 5.6% over the last 60 days. | The company possesses a Growth Score of A. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated PEG Ratio (TTM) UnitedHealth Group Incorporated peg-ratio-ttm | UnitedHealth Group Incorporated Quote Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): This automotive retailer, which carries a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.1% over the last 60 days. Click to get this free report WNS (Holdings) Limited (WNS): Free Stock Analysis Report Verint Systems Inc. (VRNT): Get Free Report UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH): Get Free Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. The company possesses a Growth Score of B. WNS (Holdings) Limited PEG Ratio (TTM) WNS (Holdings) Limited peg-ratio-ttm | WNS (Holdings) Limited Quote Verint Systems Inc. (VRNT): This value-added services and actionable intelligence solutions provider, which carries a Zacks Rank #1, has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 1% over the last 60 days. | The company possesses a Growth Score of A. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated PEG Ratio (TTM) UnitedHealth Group Incorporated peg-ratio-ttm | UnitedHealth Group Incorporated Quote Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): This automotive retailer, which carries a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.1% over the last 60 days. Click to get this free report WNS (Holdings) Limited (WNS): Free Stock Analysis Report Verint Systems Inc. (VRNT): Get Free Report UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH): Get Free Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. The company possesses a Growth Score of B. WNS (Holdings) Limited PEG Ratio (TTM) WNS (Holdings) Limited peg-ratio-ttm | WNS (Holdings) Limited Quote Verint Systems Inc. (VRNT): This value-added services and actionable intelligence solutions provider, which carries a Zacks Rank #1, has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 1% over the last 60 days. | Click to get this free report WNS (Holdings) Limited (WNS): Free Stock Analysis Report Verint Systems Inc. (VRNT): Get Free Report UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH): Get Free Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. The company possesses a Growth Score of A. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated PEG Ratio (TTM) UnitedHealth Group Incorporated peg-ratio-ttm | UnitedHealth Group Incorporated Quote Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): This automotive retailer, which carries a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.1% over the last 60 days. Here are four stocks with buy ranks and strong growth characteristics for investors to consider today, January 24th : WNS (Holdings) Limited (WNS): This business process management company, which carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 5.6% over the last 60 days. |
28788.0 | 2019-01-23 00:00:00 UTC | Asbury Automotive (ABG) Upgraded to Buy: Here's What You Should Know | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/asbury-automotive-abg-upgraded-to-buy%3A-heres-what-you-should-know-2019-01-23 | nan | nan | Investors might want to bet on Asbury Automotive Group (ABG), as it has been recently upgraded to a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). This upgrade is essentially a reflection of an upward trend in earnings estimates -- one of the most powerful forces impacting stock prices.
A company's changing earnings picture is at the core of the Zacks rating. The system tracks the Zacks Consensus Estimate -- the consensus measure of EPS estimates from the sell-side analysts covering the stock -- for the current and following years.
The power of a changing earnings picture in determining near-term stock price movements makes the Zacks rating system highly useful for individual investors, since it can be difficult to make decisions based on rating upgrades by Wall Street analysts. These are mostly driven by subjective factors that are hard to see and measure in real time.
Therefore, the Zacks rating upgrade for Asbury Automotive basically reflects positivity about its earnings outlook that could translate into buying pressure and an increase in its stock price.
Most Powerful Force Impacting Stock Prices
The change in a company's future earnings potential, as reflected in earnings estimate revisions, has proven to be strongly correlated with the near-term price movement of its stock. The influence of institutional investors has a partial contribution to this relationship, as these big professionals use earnings and earnings estimates to calculate the fair value of a company's shares. An increase or decrease in earnings estimates in their valuation models simply results in higher or lower fair value for a stock, and institutional investors typically buy or sell it. Their bulk investment action then leads to price movement for the stock.
For Asbury Automotive, rising earnings estimates and the consequent rating upgrade fundamentally mean an improvement in the company's underlying business. And investors' appreciation of this improving business trend should push the stock higher.
Harnessing the Power of Earnings Estimate Revisions
As empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock movements, tracking such revisions for making an investment decision could be truly rewarding. Here is where the tried-and-tested Zacks Rank stock-rating system plays an important role, as it effectively harnesses the power o f earnings estimate revisions.
The Zacks Rank stock-rating system, which uses four factors related to earnings estimates to classify stocks into five groups, ranging from Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) to Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive externally-audited track record, with Zacks Rank #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .
Earnings Estimate Revisions for Asbury Automotive
For the fiscal year ending December 2018, this auto dealership chain is expected to earn $8.29 per share, which is a change of 28.9% from the year-ago reported number.
Analysts have been steadily raising their estimates for Asbury Automotive. Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company has increased 3.7%.
Bottom Line
Unlike the overly optimistic Wall Street analysts whose rating systems tend to be weighted toward favorable recommendations, the Zacks rating system maintains an equal proportion of 'buy' and 'sell' ratings for its entire universe of more than 4000 stocks at any point in time. Irrespective of market conditions, only the top 5% of the Zacks-covered stocks get a 'Strong Buy' rating and the next 15% get a 'Buy' rating. So, the placement of a stock in the top 20% of the Zacks-covered stocks indicates its superior earnings estimate revision feature, making it a solid candidate for producing market-beating returns in the near term.
You can learn more about the Zacks Rank here >>>
The upgrade of Asbury Automotive to a Zacks Rank #2 positions it in the top 20% of the Zacks-covered stocks in terms of estimate revisions, implying that the stock might move higher in the near term.
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Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Investors might want to bet on Asbury Automotive Group (ABG), as it has been recently upgraded to a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Therefore, the Zacks rating upgrade for Asbury Automotive basically reflects positivity about its earnings outlook that could translate into buying pressure and an increase in its stock price. | Investors might want to bet on Asbury Automotive Group (ABG), as it has been recently upgraded to a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. The power of a changing earnings picture in determining near-term stock price movements makes the Zacks rating system highly useful for individual investors, since it can be difficult to make decisions based on rating upgrades by Wall Street analysts. | Investors might want to bet on Asbury Automotive Group (ABG), as it has been recently upgraded to a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Most Powerful Force Impacting Stock Prices The change in a company's future earnings potential, as reflected in earnings estimate revisions, has proven to be strongly correlated with the near-term price movement of its stock. | Investors might want to bet on Asbury Automotive Group (ABG), as it has been recently upgraded to a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Therefore, the Zacks rating upgrade for Asbury Automotive basically reflects positivity about its earnings outlook that could translate into buying pressure and an increase in its stock price. |
28789.0 | 2019-01-20 00:00:00 UTC | Tilray Dodges a Bullet -- Is the Hot Marijuana Stock Now a Buy? | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/tilray-dodges-bullet-hot-marijuana-stock-now-buy-2019-01-20 | nan | nan | This could easily have been a dismal week for Tilray 's (NASDAQ: TLRY) share price. It could have easily been the worst week ever for the stock. But it wasn't.
Jan. 15, 2019 -- last Tuesday -- was a pivotal day for Tilray. That's when the company's initial public offering (IPO) lockup period expired.
IPO lockup periods prevent insiders from selling their shares for a specified amount of time. When that period expires, they can sell all the stock they want. What often happens is that insiders sell an awful lot of their shares and the stock price falls due to resulting downward pressure from all the high-volume selling at one time.
But Tilray dodged a bullet. Shares fell on Tuesday, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. With the modest pullback (for Tilray, anyway), is this hot marijuana stock now a smart choice for investors to buy?
A helpful delay
There's one big reason why Tilray didn't experience the IPO lockup period expiration blues like many stocks do. Private equity firm Privateer Holdings announced last week that it wouldn't sell any of its Tilray shares immediately after the lockup period expiration. This announcement was tremendously important because Privateer Holdings owns around 76% of Tilray's outstanding shares.
Privateer Holdings has an important connection with Tilray other than being the largest shareholder. Brendan Kennedy is the co-founder and executive chairman of the private equity firm. Kennedy also happens to be the president and CEO of Tilray. While there certainly must have been a temptation to lock in some profits with Tilray stock up more than 330% since its IPO, Kennedy also knew what impact a big sell-off would likely have on the marijuana producer's share price.
However, Privateer Holdings didn't commit to holding its Tilray shares forever. The firm stated that it won't sell any of its position in Tilray in the first half of 2019. What happens after then? Privateer Holdings managing partner Michael Blue said, "When we decide to distribute shares, we will do so in an orderly and deliberate manner."
Such an "orderly and deliberate" approach for Privateer Holdings in selling its Tilray shares at some point in the future should work to Tilray's benefit. The primary problem with IPO lockup period expirations is that shares are often dumped on the market for sale all at once. If Privateer Holdings upholds its commitment (and there's no reason to think that it won't), this kind of scenario shouldn't occur for Tilray.
Tilray's prospects
With the threat of a sell-off related to the IPO lockup period expiration now gone, investors can focus on the more important matter for Tilray: its prospects. And those prospects continue to look quite good.
The opportunity that receives the most attention is the Canadian recreational marijuana market. Tilray is an excellent position to perform well in this market. The company inked supply agreements with seven Canadian provinces and two territories. It's negotiating with two other provinces for supply deals.
Although Canada hasn't finalized regulations yet for cannabis edibles, Tilray is poised for success in this potentially massive new market as well. The company already has a line of edibles waiting in the wings. Tilray also formed a 50-50 joint venture with large beer maker Anheuser-Busch InBev to develop non-alcoholic cannabis-infused beverages for the Canadian market.
But international opportunities for Tilray are even bigger. Currently, 41 countries have legalized medical cannabis. Tilray already ships to 12 of these countries, notably including Germany, which has a population more than twice the size of Canada's.
Tilray also has significant room for growth in consumer products. The company recently signed a deal that makes Tilray the preferred supplier of cannabinoids, including cannabidiol (CBD), for Authentic Brands Group (ABG), which owns a large portfolio of global lifestyle and entertainment brands. This agreement also gives Tilray the right to receive up to 49% of net sales of ABG-branded cannabis products.
Good but not great
The global cannabis market will be huge. Tilray's opportunity will be huge. It's not hard to envision Tilray stock doubling or more over the next decade. In my view, though, the problem for Tilray is that there are even better marijuana stocks to buy.
Tilray's projected production capacity is well below several of its peers that have lower market caps. While Tilray formed a joint venture with AB InBev, other rivals landed much more impressive deals with major companies outside of the cannabis industry. Their relationships are significantly closer than the one between Tilray and AB InBev -- and they filled the marijuana producers' coffers with cash to use in expanding operations.
The bottom line is that Tilray is a pretty good marijuana stock, especially with the uncertainty surrounding its IPO lockup period expiration now in the rearview mirror. However, is Tiray a great marijuana stock? I don't think so.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | The company recently signed a deal that makes Tilray the preferred supplier of cannabinoids, including cannabidiol (CBD), for Authentic Brands Group (ABG), which owns a large portfolio of global lifestyle and entertainment brands. This agreement also gives Tilray the right to receive up to 49% of net sales of ABG-branded cannabis products. While there certainly must have been a temptation to lock in some profits with Tilray stock up more than 330% since its IPO, Kennedy also knew what impact a big sell-off would likely have on the marijuana producer's share price. | The company recently signed a deal that makes Tilray the preferred supplier of cannabinoids, including cannabidiol (CBD), for Authentic Brands Group (ABG), which owns a large portfolio of global lifestyle and entertainment brands. This agreement also gives Tilray the right to receive up to 49% of net sales of ABG-branded cannabis products. A helpful delay There's one big reason why Tilray didn't experience the IPO lockup period expiration blues like many stocks do. | The company recently signed a deal that makes Tilray the preferred supplier of cannabinoids, including cannabidiol (CBD), for Authentic Brands Group (ABG), which owns a large portfolio of global lifestyle and entertainment brands. This agreement also gives Tilray the right to receive up to 49% of net sales of ABG-branded cannabis products. Private equity firm Privateer Holdings announced last week that it wouldn't sell any of its Tilray shares immediately after the lockup period expiration. | The company recently signed a deal that makes Tilray the preferred supplier of cannabinoids, including cannabidiol (CBD), for Authentic Brands Group (ABG), which owns a large portfolio of global lifestyle and entertainment brands. This agreement also gives Tilray the right to receive up to 49% of net sales of ABG-branded cannabis products. Private equity firm Privateer Holdings announced last week that it wouldn't sell any of its Tilray shares immediately after the lockup period expiration. |
28790.0 | 2019-01-15 00:00:00 UTC | Should Value Investors Pick Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) Stock? | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/should-value-investors-pick-asbury-automotive-group-abg-stock-2019-01-15 | nan | nan | Value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. After all, who wouldn't want to find stocks that are either flying under the radar and are compelling buys, or offer up tantalizing discounts when compared to fair value?
One way to find these companies is by looking at several key metrics and financial ratios, many of which are crucial in the value stock selection process. Let's put Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.ABG stock into this equation and find out if it is a good choice for value-oriented investors right now, or if investors subscribing to this methodology should look elsewhere for top picks:
PE Ratio
A key metric that value investors always look at is the Price to Earnings Ratio, or PE for short. This shows us how much investors are willing to pay for each dollar o f earnings in a given stock, and is easily one of the most popular financial ratios in the world. The best use of the PE ratio is to compare the stock's current PE ratio with: a) where this ratio has been in the past; b) how it compares to the average for the industry/sector; and c) how it compares to the market as a whole.
On this front, Asbury Automotive Group has a trailing twelve months PE ratio of 8.6, as you can see in the chart below:
This level actually compares pretty favorably with the market at large, as the PE for the S&P 500 compares in at about 16.9. If we focus on the stock's long-term PE trend, the current level puts Asbury Automotive Group's current PE ratio slightly below its midpoint (which is 10.6) over the past five years.
We should also point out that Asbury Automotive Group has a forward PE ratio (price relative to this year's earnings) of just 8.2, so it is fair to say that a slightly more value-oriented path may be ahead for Asbury Automotive Group's stock in the near term too.
P/S Ratio
Another key metric to note is the Price/Sales ratio. This approach compares a given stock's price to its total sales, where a lower reading is generally considered better. Some people like this metric more than other value-focused ones because it looks at sales, something that is far harder to manipulate with accounting tricks than earnings.
Right now, Asbury Automotive Group has a P/S ratio of about 0.2. This is significantly lower than the S&P 500 average, which comes in at 3.0 right now. Also, as we can see in the chart below, this is somewhat below the highs for this stock in particular over the past few years.
If anything, this suggests some level of undervalued trading-at least compared to historical norms.
Broad Value Outlook
In aggregate, Asbury Automotive Group currently has a Value Style Score of A, putting it into the top 20% of all stocks we cover from this look. This makes ABG a solid choice for value investors, and some of its other key metrics make this pretty clear too.
For example, the PEG ratio for Asbury Automotive Group is just 0.5, a level that is considerably lower than the industry average of 1.1. The PEG ratio is a modified PE ratio that takes into account the stock's earnings growth rate. Clearly, ABG is a solid choice on the value front from multiple angles.
What About the Stock Overall?
Though Asbury Automotive Group might be a good choice for value investors, there are plenty of other factors to consider before investing in this name. In particular, it is worth noting that the company has a Growth grade of A and a Momentum score of A. This gives ABG a VGM score-or its overarching fundamental grade-of A. (You can read more about the Zacks Style Scores here >> )
Meanwhile, the company's recen t earnings estimates have been encouraging. The current quarter has seen two estimates go higher in the past sixty days, compared to none lower, while the full-year 2019 estimate has seen two upward and one downward revisions in the same time period.
This has had a noticeable impact on the consensus estimate, as the current quarter consensus estimate has inched up 0.9% in the past two months, while the full-year 2019 estimate has nudged up 0.4%. You can see the consensus estimate trend and recent price action for the stock in the chart below:
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Price and Consensus
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Price and Consensus | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote
This somewhat favorable trend is why the stock has just a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and why we are looking for better performance from the company in the near term.
Bottom Line
Asbury Automotive Group is an inspired choice for value investors, as it is hard to beat its incredible lineup of statistics on this front. Boasting an excellent industry rank (top 4% out of more than 250 industries) and a strong Zacks Rank, the company deserves attention right now. However, over the past one year, the sector has clearly underperformed the broader market, as you can see below:
So, value investors might want to wait for industry trends to turn favorable in this name first, but once that happens, this stock could be a compelling pick.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Let's put Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.ABG stock into this equation and find out if it is a good choice for value-oriented investors right now, or if investors subscribing to this methodology should look elsewhere for top picks: PE Ratio A key metric that value investors always look at is the Price to Earnings Ratio, or PE for short. This makes ABG a solid choice for value investors, and some of its other key metrics make this pretty clear too. Clearly, ABG is a solid choice on the value front from multiple angles. | Let's put Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.ABG stock into this equation and find out if it is a good choice for value-oriented investors right now, or if investors subscribing to this methodology should look elsewhere for top picks: PE Ratio A key metric that value investors always look at is the Price to Earnings Ratio, or PE for short. This makes ABG a solid choice for value investors, and some of its other key metrics make this pretty clear too. Clearly, ABG is a solid choice on the value front from multiple angles. | Let's put Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.ABG stock into this equation and find out if it is a good choice for value-oriented investors right now, or if investors subscribing to this methodology should look elsewhere for top picks: PE Ratio A key metric that value investors always look at is the Price to Earnings Ratio, or PE for short. This makes ABG a solid choice for value investors, and some of its other key metrics make this pretty clear too. Clearly, ABG is a solid choice on the value front from multiple angles. | Let's put Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.ABG stock into this equation and find out if it is a good choice for value-oriented investors right now, or if investors subscribing to this methodology should look elsewhere for top picks: PE Ratio A key metric that value investors always look at is the Price to Earnings Ratio, or PE for short. This makes ABG a solid choice for value investors, and some of its other key metrics make this pretty clear too. Clearly, ABG is a solid choice on the value front from multiple angles. |
28791.0 | 2019-01-15 00:00:00 UTC | Is Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) Stock Undervalued Right Now? | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/is-asbury-automotive-group-abg-stock-undervalued-right-now-2019-01-15 | nan | nan | Here at Zacks, we focus on our proven ranking system, which places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, to find winning stocks. But we also understand that investors develop their own strategies, so we are constantly looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong companies for our readers.
Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader market. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.
On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.
Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) is a stock many investors are watching right now. ABG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 8.21 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 8.27. Over the past 52 weeks, ABG's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.71 and as low as 7.37, with a median of 8.88.
We also note that ABG holds a PEG ratio of 0.52. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. ABG's industry currently sports an average PEG of 1.16. ABG's PEG has been as high as 1.30 and as low as 0.47, with a median of 0.88, all within the past year.
These are only a few of the key metrics included in Asbury Automotive Group's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, ABG looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) is a stock many investors are watching right now. ABG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. Over the past 52 weeks, ABG's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.71 and as low as 7.37, with a median of 8.88. | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) is a stock many investors are watching right now. ABG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. Over the past 52 weeks, ABG's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.71 and as low as 7.37, with a median of 8.88. | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) is a stock many investors are watching right now. ABG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. Over the past 52 weeks, ABG's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.71 and as low as 7.37, with a median of 8.88. | ABG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) is a stock many investors are watching right now. Over the past 52 weeks, ABG's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.71 and as low as 7.37, with a median of 8.88. |
28792.0 | 2019-01-11 00:00:00 UTC | Top Ranked Growth Stocks to Buy for January 11th | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/top-ranked-growth-stocks-to-buy-for-january-11th-2019-01-11 | nan | nan | Here are three stocks with buy ranks and strong growth characteristics for investors to consider today, January 11th:
Asbury AutomotiveGroup, Inc. (ABG): This automotive retailer, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 2.5% over the last 60 days.
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Price and Consensus
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote
Asbury Automotive has a PEG ratio of 0.52, compared with 1.15 for the industry. The company possesses a Growth Score of A.
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. PEG Ratio (TTM)
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. peg-ratio-ttm | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote
salesforce.com, inc. (CRM): This enterprise cloud computing solutions provider, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 4% over the last 60 days.
salesforce.com, inc. Price and Consensus
salesforce.com, inc. price-consensus-chart | salesforce.com, inc. Quote
salesforce.com has a PEG ratio of 2.33, compared with 3.21 for the industry. The company possesses a Growth Score of B. .
salesforce.com, inc. PEG Ratio (TTM)
salesforce.com, inc. peg-ratio-ttm | salesforce.com, inc. Quote
United Continental Holdings, Inc. (UAL): This air transportation services provider, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 1.3% over the last 60 days.
United Continental Holdings, Inc. Price and Consensus
United Continental Holdings, Inc. price-consensus-chart | United Continental Holdings, Inc. Quote
United Continental has a PEG ratio of 0.35, compared with 0.79 for the industry. The company possesses a Growth Score of B.
United Continental Holdings, Inc. PEG Ratio (TTM)
United Continental Holdings, Inc. peg-ratio-ttm | United Continental Holdings, Inc. Quote
See the full list of top ranked stocks here
More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!
It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Here are three stocks with buy ranks and strong growth characteristics for investors to consider today, January 11th: Asbury AutomotiveGroup, Inc. (ABG): This automotive retailer, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 2.5% over the last 60 days. Click to get this free report United Continental Holdings, Inc. (UAL): Free Stock Analysis Report salesforce.com, inc. (CRM): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. salesforce.com, inc. PEG Ratio (TTM) salesforce.com, inc. peg-ratio-ttm | salesforce.com, inc. Quote United Continental Holdings, Inc. (UAL): This air transportation services provider, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 1.3% over the last 60 days. | Click to get this free report United Continental Holdings, Inc. (UAL): Free Stock Analysis Report salesforce.com, inc. (CRM): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Here are three stocks with buy ranks and strong growth characteristics for investors to consider today, January 11th: Asbury AutomotiveGroup, Inc. (ABG): This automotive retailer, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 2.5% over the last 60 days. The company possesses a Growth Score of A. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. PEG Ratio (TTM) Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. peg-ratio-ttm | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote salesforce.com, inc. (CRM): This enterprise cloud computing solutions provider, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 4% over the last 60 days. | Here are three stocks with buy ranks and strong growth characteristics for investors to consider today, January 11th: Asbury AutomotiveGroup, Inc. (ABG): This automotive retailer, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 2.5% over the last 60 days. Click to get this free report United Continental Holdings, Inc. (UAL): Free Stock Analysis Report salesforce.com, inc. (CRM): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Price and Consensus Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote Asbury Automotive has a PEG ratio of 0.52, compared with 1.15 for the industry. | Here are three stocks with buy ranks and strong growth characteristics for investors to consider today, January 11th: Asbury AutomotiveGroup, Inc. (ABG): This automotive retailer, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 2.5% over the last 60 days. Click to get this free report United Continental Holdings, Inc. (UAL): Free Stock Analysis Report salesforce.com, inc. (CRM): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. The company possesses a Growth Score of A. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. PEG Ratio (TTM) Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. peg-ratio-ttm | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote salesforce.com, inc. (CRM): This enterprise cloud computing solutions provider, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 4% over the last 60 days. |
28793.0 | 2019-01-11 00:00:00 UTC | Top Ranked Momentum Stocks to Buy for January 11th | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/top-ranked-momentum-stocks-to-buy-for-january-11th-2019-01-11 | nan | nan | Here are three stocks with buy rank and strong momentum characteristics for investors to consider today, January 11th:
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): This automotive retailer has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 2.5% over the last 60 days.
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Price and Consensus
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote
Asbury Automotive Group's shares gained 7.9% over the last one month more than S&P 500's loss of -1.5%. The company possesses a Momentum Score of A.
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Price
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. price | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote
AbbVie Inc. (ABBV): This developer and manufacturer of pharmaceutical products has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.1% over the last 60 days.
AbbVie Inc. Price and Consensus
AbbVie Inc. price-consensus-chart | AbbVie Inc. Quote
AbbVie's shares gained 0.2% over the last one month. The company possesses a Momentum Score of B.
AbbVie Inc. Price
AbbVie Inc. price | AbbVie Inc. Quote
Sibanye Gold Limited ( SBGL): This precious metals mining company has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 13.9% over the last 60 days.
Sibanye Gold Limited Price and Consensus
Sibanye Gold Limited price-consensus-chart | Sibanye Gold Limited Quote
Sibanye Gold's shares gained 14.9% over the last one month. The company possesses a Momentum Score of A.
Sibanye Gold Limited Price
Sibanye Gold Limited price | Sibanye Gold Limited Quote
See the full list of top ranked stocks here
Learn more about the Momentum score and how it is calculated here .
More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!
It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.
Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020.
Click here for the 6 trades >>
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Here are three stocks with buy rank and strong momentum characteristics for investors to consider today, January 11th: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): This automotive retailer has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 2.5% over the last 60 days. Click to get this free report Sibanye Gold Limited (SBGL): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report AbbVie Inc. (ABBV): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. The company possesses a Momentum Score of A. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Price Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. price | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote AbbVie Inc. (ABBV): This developer and manufacturer of pharmaceutical products has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.1% over the last 60 days. | Click to get this free report Sibanye Gold Limited (SBGL): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report AbbVie Inc. (ABBV): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Here are three stocks with buy rank and strong momentum characteristics for investors to consider today, January 11th: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): This automotive retailer has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 2.5% over the last 60 days. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Price and Consensus Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote Asbury Automotive Group's shares gained 7.9% over the last one month more than S&P 500's loss of -1.5%. | Click to get this free report Sibanye Gold Limited (SBGL): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report AbbVie Inc. (ABBV): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Here are three stocks with buy rank and strong momentum characteristics for investors to consider today, January 11th: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): This automotive retailer has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 2.5% over the last 60 days. The company possesses a Momentum Score of A. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Price Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. price | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote AbbVie Inc. (ABBV): This developer and manufacturer of pharmaceutical products has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 0.1% over the last 60 days. | Here are three stocks with buy rank and strong momentum characteristics for investors to consider today, January 11th: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): This automotive retailer has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 2.5% over the last 60 days. Click to get this free report Sibanye Gold Limited (SBGL): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report AbbVie Inc. (ABBV): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. |
28794.0 | 2019-01-07 00:00:00 UTC | Can Asbury Automotive (ABG) Keep the Earnings Surprise Streak Alive? | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/can-asbury-automotive-abg-keep-the-earnings-surprise-streak-alive-2019-01-07 | nan | nan | Have you been searching for a stock that might be well-positioned to maintain its earnings-beat streak in its upcoming report? It is worth considering Asbury Automotive Group (ABG), which belongs to the Zacks Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry.
This auto dealership chain has seen a nice streak of beating earnings estimates, especially when looking at the previous two reports. The average surprise for the last two quarters was 13.06%.
For the last reported quarter, Asbury Automotive came out with earnings of $2.21 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.85 per share, representing a surprise of 19.46%. For the previous quarter, the company was expected to post earnings of $1.95 per share and it actually produced earnings of $2.08 per share, delivering a surprise of 6.67%.
Price and EPS Surprise
Thanks in part to this history, there has been a favorable change in earnings estimates for Asbury Automotive lately. In fact, the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) for the stock is positive, which is a great indicator of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with its solid Zacks Rank.
Our research shows that stocks with the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time . In other words, if you have 10 stocks with this combination, the number of stocks that beat the consensus estimate could be as high as seven.
The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a version of the Zacks Consensus whose definition is related to change. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier.
Asbury Automotive has an Earnings ESP of +6.21% at the moment, suggesting that analysts have grown bullish on its near-term earnings potential. When you combine this positive Earnings ESP with the stock's Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), it shows that another beat is possibly around the corner. The company's next earnings report is expected to be released on February 5, 2019.
When the Earnings ESP comes up negative, investors should note that this will reduce the predictive power of the metric. But, a negative value is not indicative of a stock's earnings miss.
Many companies end up beating the consensus EPS estimate, though this is not the only reason why their shares gain. Additionally, some stocks may remain stable even if they end up missing the consensus estimate.
Because of this, it's really important to check a company's Earnings ESP ahead of its quarterly release to increase the odds of success. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.
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Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | It is worth considering Asbury Automotive Group (ABG), which belongs to the Zacks Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry. Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Price and EPS Surprise Thanks in part to this history, there has been a favorable change in earnings estimates for Asbury Automotive lately. | Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. It is worth considering Asbury Automotive Group (ABG), which belongs to the Zacks Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry. Our research shows that stocks with the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time . | It is worth considering Asbury Automotive Group (ABG), which belongs to the Zacks Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry. Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. For the last reported quarter, Asbury Automotive came out with earnings of $2.21 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.85 per share, representing a surprise of 19.46%. | It is worth considering Asbury Automotive Group (ABG), which belongs to the Zacks Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry. Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. For the last reported quarter, Asbury Automotive came out with earnings of $2.21 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.85 per share, representing a surprise of 19.46%. |
28795.0 | 2018-12-26 00:00:00 UTC | Top Ranked Value Stocks to Buy for December 26th | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/top-ranked-value-stocks-to-buy-for-december-26th-2018-12-26 | nan | nan | Here are three stocks with buy rank and strong value characteristics for investors to consider today, December 26th:
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): This automotive retailer has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), and seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings rising 3.6% over the last 60 days.
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Price and Consensus
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote
Asbury Automotive has a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 7.52 compared with 9.50 for the industry. The company possesses a Value Score of A.
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. PE Ratio (TTM)
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. pe-ratio-ttm | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote
MetLife, Inc. (MET): This provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefitsservices has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), and seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings rising 2.7% over the last 60 days.
MetLife, Inc. Price and Consensus
MetLife, Inc. price-consensus-chart | MetLife, Inc. Quote
MetLife has a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 7.15, compared with 14.70 for the industry. The company possesses a Value Score of A.
MetLife, Inc. PE Ratio (TTM)
MetLife, Inc. pe-ratio-ttm | MetLife, Inc. Quote
MGIC Investment Corporation (MTG) : This provider of private mortgage insurance and ancillary services has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), and seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings rising 0.6% over the last 60 days.
MGIC Investment Corporation Price and Consensus
MGIC Investment Corporation price-consensus-chart | MGIC Investment Corporation Quote
MGIC Investment has a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 5.42, compared with 14.70 for the industry. The company possesses a Value Score of A.
MGIC Investment Corporation PE Ratio (TTM)
MGIC Investment Corporation pe-ratio-ttm | MGIC Investment Corporation Quote
See the full list of top ranked stocks here
Learn more about the Value score and how it is calculated here .
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MGIC Investment Corporation (MTG): Free Stock Analysis Report
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To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Here are three stocks with buy rank and strong value characteristics for investors to consider today, December 26th: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): This automotive retailer has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), and seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings rising 3.6% over the last 60 days. Click to get this free report MGIC Investment Corporation (MTG): Free Stock Analysis Report MetLife, Inc. (MET): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. The company possesses a Value Score of A. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. PE Ratio (TTM) Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. pe-ratio-ttm | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote MetLife, Inc. (MET): This provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefitsservices has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), and seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings rising 2.7% over the last 60 days. | Click to get this free report MGIC Investment Corporation (MTG): Free Stock Analysis Report MetLife, Inc. (MET): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Here are three stocks with buy rank and strong value characteristics for investors to consider today, December 26th: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): This automotive retailer has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), and seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings rising 3.6% over the last 60 days. The company possesses a Value Score of A. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. PE Ratio (TTM) Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. pe-ratio-ttm | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote MetLife, Inc. (MET): This provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefitsservices has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), and seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings rising 2.7% over the last 60 days. | Click to get this free report MGIC Investment Corporation (MTG): Free Stock Analysis Report MetLife, Inc. (MET): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Here are three stocks with buy rank and strong value characteristics for investors to consider today, December 26th: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): This automotive retailer has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), and seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings rising 3.6% over the last 60 days. The company possesses a Value Score of A. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. PE Ratio (TTM) Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. pe-ratio-ttm | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote MetLife, Inc. (MET): This provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefitsservices has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), and seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings rising 2.7% over the last 60 days. | Here are three stocks with buy rank and strong value characteristics for investors to consider today, December 26th: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): This automotive retailer has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), and seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings rising 3.6% over the last 60 days. Click to get this free report MGIC Investment Corporation (MTG): Free Stock Analysis Report MetLife, Inc. (MET): Free Stock Analysis Report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. The company possesses a Value Score of A. Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. PE Ratio (TTM) Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. pe-ratio-ttm | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote MetLife, Inc. (MET): This provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefitsservices has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), and seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings rising 2.7% over the last 60 days. |
28796.0 | 2018-12-18 00:00:00 UTC | Is Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) Stock Outpacing Its Retail-Wholesale Peers This Year? | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/is-asbury-automotive-group-abg-stock-outpacing-its-retail-wholesale-peers-this-year-2018 | nan | nan | For those looking to find strong Retail-Wholesale stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
Asbury Automotive Group is a member of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group includes 227 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #6. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.
The Zacks Rank is a successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. ABG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ABG's full-year earnings has moved 6.11% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
According to our latest data, ABG has moved about 4.59% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Retail-Wholesale sector has returned an average of -0.85% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Asbury Automotive Group is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
Looking more specifically, ABG belongs to the Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry, a group that includes 9 individual stocks and currently sits at #10 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 25.31% so far this year, so ABG is performing better in this area.
ABG will likely be looking to continue its solid performance, so investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to pay close attention to the company.
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Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ABG's full-year earnings has moved 6.11% higher within the past quarter. Has Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) been one of those stocks this year? ABG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy). | Has Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) been one of those stocks this year? Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. ABG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy). | Looking more specifically, ABG belongs to the Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry, a group that includes 9 individual stocks and currently sits at #10 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Has Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) been one of those stocks this year? ABG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy). | According to our latest data, ABG has moved about 4.59% on a year-to-date basis. Has Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) been one of those stocks this year? ABG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy). |
28797.0 | 2018-12-04 00:00:00 UTC | Are Investors Undervaluing Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) Right Now? | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/are-investors-undervaluing-asbury-automotive-group-abg-right-now-2018-12-04 | nan | nan | While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.
Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.
On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.
Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) is a stock many investors are watching right now. ABG is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 8.20 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 8.22. ABG's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.71 and as low as 7.40, with a median of 9.01, all within the past year.
Investors will also notice that ABG has a PEG ratio of 0.52. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. ABG's industry currently sports an average PEG of 1.03. Over the past 52 weeks, ABG's PEG has been as high as 1.30 and as low as 0.51, with a median of 0.97.
These are just a handful of the figures considered in Asbury Automotive Group's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that ABG is an impressive value stock right now.
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Zacks Investment Research
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) is a stock many investors are watching right now. ABG is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A. ABG's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.71 and as low as 7.40, with a median of 9.01, all within the past year. | Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) is a stock many investors are watching right now. ABG is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A. | Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) is a stock many investors are watching right now. ABG is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A. ABG's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.71 and as low as 7.40, with a median of 9.01, all within the past year. | Investors will also notice that ABG has a PEG ratio of 0.52. Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) is a stock many investors are watching right now. ABG is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A. |
28798.0 | 2018-11-29 00:00:00 UTC | Zacks.com highlights: Asbury Automotive, OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, aTyr Pharma, Avinger and Sunesis Pharmaceuticals | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/zacks.com-highlights%3A-asbury-automotive-oncogenex-pharmaceuticals-atyr-pharma-avinger-and | nan | nan | For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL - November 29, 2018 - Stocks in this week's article include: Asbury Automotive Group Inc. ABG , OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. ACHV , aTyr Pharma Inc. LIFE , Avinger Inc. AVGR and Sunesis Pharmaceuticals Inc. SNSS .
Screen of the Week of Zacks Investment Research:
5 Top-Ranked Rising P/E Stocks to Lure Investors
Investors are well aware of low P/E investing and its positives. The common investor perception is that the lower the P/E, the higher will be the value of the stock. This inference is drawn on the simple logic that a stock's current market price does not justify (or is not equivalent to) its higher earnings and therefore has room to run.
Naturally, there are very few investors who pay attention to stocks with an increasing P/E. But this often-overlooked trend can prove useful in finding great stocks. Let's dig a little deeper.
Why Stocks With Rising P/E Can be Equally Popular
Investors should note that stock prices move in line with earnings performance. If earnings come in stronger, the price of a stock shoots up. Solid quarterly earnings and the forward guidance in turn boost earnings forecasts, leading to stronger demand for the stock and an uptrend in its price.
So, if share price is rising steadily, it means that investors are assured of the stock's fundamental strength and expect some strong positives out of it. Also, studies have revealed that stocks have seen their P/E ratios jump over 100% from their breakout point in the cycle. So, if you can pick stocks early in their breakout cycle, you can end up seeing considerable gains.
And that's what we're screening for today…
For the rest of this Screen of the Week article please visit Zacks.com at:https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/339634/5-topranked-rising-pe-stocks-to-lure-investors
Get the remaining stocks on the list and start putting this and other ideas to the test. It can all be done with the Research Wizard stock picking and back testing software.
The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.
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Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.
About Screen of the Week
Zacks.com created the first and best screening system on the web earning the distinction as the "#1 site for screening stocks" by Money Magazine. But powerful screening tools is just the start. That is why Zacks created the Screen of the Week to highlight profitable stock picking strategies that investors can actively use.
Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News
Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has more than doubled the market from 1988 through 2016. Its average gain has been a stellar +25% per year.
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report
Avinger, Inc. (AVGR): Free Stock Analysis Report
aTyr Pharma, Inc. (LIFE): Free Stock Analysis Report
Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SNSS): Free Stock Analysis Report
OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ACHV): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | For Immediate Release Chicago, IL - November 29, 2018 - Stocks in this week's article include: Asbury Automotive Group Inc. ABG , OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. ACHV , aTyr Pharma Inc. LIFE , Avinger Inc. AVGR and Sunesis Pharmaceuticals Inc. SNSS . Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report Avinger, Inc. (AVGR): Free Stock Analysis Report aTyr Pharma, Inc. (LIFE): Free Stock Analysis Report Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SNSS): Free Stock Analysis Report OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ACHV): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. This inference is drawn on the simple logic that a stock's current market price does not justify (or is not equivalent to) its higher earnings and therefore has room to run. | For Immediate Release Chicago, IL - November 29, 2018 - Stocks in this week's article include: Asbury Automotive Group Inc. ABG , OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. ACHV , aTyr Pharma Inc. LIFE , Avinger Inc. AVGR and Sunesis Pharmaceuticals Inc. SNSS . Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report Avinger, Inc. (AVGR): Free Stock Analysis Report aTyr Pharma, Inc. (LIFE): Free Stock Analysis Report Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SNSS): Free Stock Analysis Report OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ACHV): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. | Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report Avinger, Inc. (AVGR): Free Stock Analysis Report aTyr Pharma, Inc. (LIFE): Free Stock Analysis Report Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SNSS): Free Stock Analysis Report OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ACHV): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. For Immediate Release Chicago, IL - November 29, 2018 - Stocks in this week's article include: Asbury Automotive Group Inc. ABG , OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. ACHV , aTyr Pharma Inc. LIFE , Avinger Inc. AVGR and Sunesis Pharmaceuticals Inc. SNSS . Screen of the Week of Zacks Investment Research: 5 Top-Ranked Rising P/E Stocks to Lure Investors Investors are well aware of low P/E investing and its positives. | For Immediate Release Chicago, IL - November 29, 2018 - Stocks in this week's article include: Asbury Automotive Group Inc. ABG , OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. ACHV , aTyr Pharma Inc. LIFE , Avinger Inc. AVGR and Sunesis Pharmaceuticals Inc. SNSS . Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report Avinger, Inc. (AVGR): Free Stock Analysis Report aTyr Pharma, Inc. (LIFE): Free Stock Analysis Report Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SNSS): Free Stock Analysis Report OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ACHV): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Screen of the Week of Zacks Investment Research: 5 Top-Ranked Rising P/E Stocks to Lure Investors Investors are well aware of low P/E investing and its positives. |
28799.0 | 2018-11-28 00:00:00 UTC | 5 Top-Ranked Rising P/E Stocks to Lure Investors | ABG | https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/5-top-ranked-rising-pe-stocks-lure-investors-2018-11-28 | nan | nan | Investors are well aware of low P/E investing and its positives. The common investor perception is that the lower the P/E, the higher will be the value of the stock. This inference is drawn on the simple logic that a stock's current market price does not justify (or is not equivalent to) its higher earnings and therefore has room to run.
Naturally, there are very few investors who pay attention to stocks with an increasing P/E. But this often-overlooked trend can prove useful in finding great stocks. Let's dig a little deeper.
Why Stocks With Rising P/E Can be Equally Popular
Investors should note that stock prices move in line with earnings performance. If earnings come in stronger, the price of a stock shoots up. Solid quarterly earnings and the forward guidance in turn boost earnings forecasts, leading to stronger demand for the stock and an uptrend in its price.
So, if share price is rising steadily, it means that investors are assured of the stock's fundamental strength and expect some strong positives out of it. Also, studies have revealed that stocks have seen their P/E ratios jump over 100% from their breakout point in the cycle. So, if you can pick stocks early in their breakout cycle, you can end up seeing considerable gains.
The Winning Strategy
In order to shortlist stocks that are exhibiting an increasing P/E, we chose the following as our primary screening parameters.
EPS growth estimate for the current year is greater than or equal to last year's actual growth
Percentage change in last year EPS should be greater than or equal to zero
(These two criteria point to flat earnings or a growth trend over the years.)
Percentage change in price over four weeks greater than the percentage change in price over 12 weeks
Percentage change in price over 12 weeks greater than percentage change in price over 24 weeks
(These two criteria show that price of the stock is increasing consistently over the said timeframes.)
Percentage price change for four weeks relative to the S&P 500 greater than the percentage price change for 12 weeks relative to the S&P 500
Percentage price change for 12 weeks relative to the S&P 500 greater than the percentage price change for 24 weeks relative to the S&P 500
(Here, the case for consistent price gains gets even stronger as it displays percentage price changes relative to the S&P 500.)
Percentage price change for 12 weeks is 20% higher than or equal to the percentage price change for 24 weeks, but it should not exceed 100%
(A 20% increase in the price of a stock from the breakout point gives cues of an impending uptrend. But a jump of over 100% indicates that there is limited scope for further upside and that the stock might be due for a reversal.)
In addition, we place a few other criteria that lead us to some likely outperformers.
Zacks Rank less than or equal to 2: Only companies with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) can get through.
Average 20-day Volume greater than or equal to 50,000: High trading volume implies that the stocks have adequate liquidity.
Just these few criteria narrowed down the universe from over 7,700 stocks to just 86.
Here are five out of the 86 stocks:
Asbury Automotive Group Inc. (ABG) : This automotive retailer sports a Zacks Rank #1. It hails from a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 7%). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here .
OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ACHV) : This Zacks Rank #2 pharmaceutical company belongs to a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 34%).
aTyr Pharma Inc. (LIFE) : This Zacks Rank #2 bio-therapeutics company belongs to a top-ranked Zacks industry (29%).
Avinger Inc. (AVGR): This Zacks Rank #2 company is engaged in designing, manufacturing and selling image-guided, catheter-based systems to treat peripheral arterial disease. It belongs to a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 29%).
Sunesis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (SNSS) : It is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel small molecule therapeutics for oncology and other serious diseases. It belongs to a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 29%) and carries a Zacks Rank #2.
You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.
The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.
Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today .
Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.
Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks' portfolios and strategies are available at:https://www.zacks.com/performance .
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report
Avinger, Inc. (AVGR): Free Stock Analysis Report
aTyr Pharma, Inc. (LIFE): Free Stock Analysis Report
Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SNSS): Free Stock Analysis Report
OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ACHV): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. | Here are five out of the 86 stocks: Asbury Automotive Group Inc. (ABG) : This automotive retailer sports a Zacks Rank #1. Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report Avinger, Inc. (AVGR): Free Stock Analysis Report aTyr Pharma, Inc. (LIFE): Free Stock Analysis Report Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SNSS): Free Stock Analysis Report OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ACHV): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. This inference is drawn on the simple logic that a stock's current market price does not justify (or is not equivalent to) its higher earnings and therefore has room to run. | Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report Avinger, Inc. (AVGR): Free Stock Analysis Report aTyr Pharma, Inc. (LIFE): Free Stock Analysis Report Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SNSS): Free Stock Analysis Report OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ACHV): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Here are five out of the 86 stocks: Asbury Automotive Group Inc. (ABG) : This automotive retailer sports a Zacks Rank #1. Percentage change in price over four weeks greater than the percentage change in price over 12 weeks Percentage change in price over 12 weeks greater than percentage change in price over 24 weeks (These two criteria show that price of the stock is increasing consistently over the said timeframes.) | Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report Avinger, Inc. (AVGR): Free Stock Analysis Report aTyr Pharma, Inc. (LIFE): Free Stock Analysis Report Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SNSS): Free Stock Analysis Report OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ACHV): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Here are five out of the 86 stocks: Asbury Automotive Group Inc. (ABG) : This automotive retailer sports a Zacks Rank #1. Percentage change in price over four weeks greater than the percentage change in price over 12 weeks Percentage change in price over 12 weeks greater than percentage change in price over 24 weeks (These two criteria show that price of the stock is increasing consistently over the said timeframes.) | Here are five out of the 86 stocks: Asbury Automotive Group Inc. (ABG) : This automotive retailer sports a Zacks Rank #1. Click to get this free report Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG): Free Stock Analysis Report Avinger, Inc. (AVGR): Free Stock Analysis Report aTyr Pharma, Inc. (LIFE): Free Stock Analysis Report Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SNSS): Free Stock Analysis Report OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ACHV): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Investors are well aware of low P/E investing and its positives. |
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