News

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 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: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. is an automotive retailer company. The Company operates through two segments: Dealerships and Total Care Auto (TCA). The Company offers a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; parts and service, which includes vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts and collision repair services, and finance and insurance (F&I) products, which includes arranging vehicle financing through third parties and aftermarket products, such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) debt cancellation and prepaid maintenance. The Company operates 178 new vehicle dealerships, consisting of 239 franchises, representing 32 domestic and foreign brands of vehicles. Its TCA, powered by Landcar, is a provider of service contracts and other vehicle protection products, and 43 collision repair centers.

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.

Detailed Analysis of ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC.

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.