Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG) Shareholders Have Enjoyed A 81% Share Price Gain

One simple way to benefit from the stock market is to buy an index fund. But if you buy good businesses at attractive prices, your portfolio returns could exceed the average market return. For example, the Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) share price is up 81% in the last three years, clearly besting the market return of around 35% (not including dividends). On the other hand, the returns haven't been quite so good recently, with shareholders up just 40%.

View our latest analysis for Asbury Automotive Group

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.

Asbury Automotive Group was able to grow its EPS at 12% per year over three years, sending the share price higher. This EPS growth is lower than the 22% average annual increase in the share price. This indicates that the market is feeling more optimistic on the stock, after the last few years of progress. It's not unusual to see the market 're-rate' a stock, after a few years of growth.

You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

We know that Asbury Automotive Group has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? You could check out this free report showing analyst revenue forecasts.

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Asbury Automotive Group has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 40% in the last twelve months. Since the one-year TSR is better than the five-year TSR (the latter coming in at 9.1% per year), it would seem that the stock's performance has improved in recent times. In the best case scenario, this may hint at some real business momentum, implying that now could be a great time to delve deeper. Most investors take the time to check the data on insider transactions. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.