AutoNation (NYSE:AN) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

by · The Markets Daily

Wall Street Zen cut shares of AutoNation (NYSE:AN – Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on AutoNation from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on AutoNation from $209.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Guggenheim reduced their target price on AutoNation from $230.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on AutoNation from $255.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on AutoNation from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.63.

Read Our Latest Research Report on AutoNation

AutoNation Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE AN opened at $220.00 on Friday. AutoNation has a 12 month low of $148.33 and a 12 month high of $228.92. The company has a market cap of $8.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $209.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $189.41.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported $5.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.76. AutoNation had a return on equity of 31.12% and a net margin of 2.31%.The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.99 earnings per share. AutoNation’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that AutoNation will post 18.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of AutoNation

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in AutoNation by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,256,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,261,000 after buying an additional 219,474 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in AutoNation by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,964,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,749,000 after buying an additional 149,959 shares during the last quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AutoNation by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC now owns 1,214,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,262,000 after buying an additional 84,455 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of AutoNation by 20.6% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 815,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,085,000 after acquiring an additional 139,363 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AutoNation by 51.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 631,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,439,000 after acquiring an additional 215,577 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

AutoNation Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

AutoNation, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an automotive retailer in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Domestic, Import, and Premium Luxury. It offers a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; and parts and services, such as automotive repair and maintenance, and wholesale parts and collision services.

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