Asbury Automotive had its Relative Strength (RS) Rating upgraded from 67 to 74 Tuesday -- a welcome improvement, but still shy of the 80 or higher score you look for.

When looking for the best stocks to buy and watch, one factor to watch closely is relative price strength.

This exclusive rating from Investor's Business Daily tracks market leadership with a 1 (worst) to 99 (best) score. The rating shows how a stock's price behavior over the trailing 52 weeks stacks up against all the other stocks in our database.

Decades of market research shows that the best stocks often have an RS Rating north of 80 as they begin their biggest runs. See if Asbury Automotive can continue to show renewed price strength and hit that benchmark.

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Asbury Automotive is trying to complete a cup with handle with a 211.56 entry. See if it can break out in volume at least 40% above average.

Taking a look at top and bottom line numbers, the company has posted rising EPS growth in each of the last five reports. Sales growth has also risen during the same period.

The company earns the No. 5 rank among its peers in the Retail/Wholesale-Auto Parts industry group. Penske Automotive Group and Group I Automotive are also among the group's highest-rated stocks.