AutoNation (NYSE:AN) Rating Increased to Buy at Northcoast Research

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) was upgraded by research analysts at Northcoast Research from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday. The brokerage presently has a $240.00 price target on the stock. Northcoast Research’s price target points to a potential upside of 23.94% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on AutoNation from $269.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $208.00 to $202.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 6th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of AutoNation from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded AutoNation from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of AutoNation in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $234.00 price objective for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.73.

AutoNation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AN opened at $193.64 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $191.28 and a 200 day moving average of $198.61. The stock has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.62. AutoNation has a 12 month low of $176.62 and a 12 month high of $228.92.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported $4.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.71 by ($0.02). AutoNation had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 31.45%. The company had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AutoNation will post 21.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Kimberly Dees sold 2,500 shares of AutoNation stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.91, for a total transaction of $512,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,456 shares in the company, valued at $298,348.96. This trade represents a 63.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of AutoNation by 192,434.0% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,424,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $913,557,000 after acquiring an additional 4,422,133 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AutoNation during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $69,319,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of AutoNation by 260.2% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 333,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,064,000 after acquiring an additional 241,265 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 215,577 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 444.2% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 119,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,605,000 after buying an additional 97,268 shares during the period. 94.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AutoNation Company Profile

AutoNation, Inc is the largest automotive retailer in the United States, operating a network of franchised new vehicle dealerships, pre-owned vehicle superstores and collision-repair centers. The company offers a comprehensive range of automotive products and services, including the sale of new cars and light trucks from leading manufacturers, certified pre-owned vehicles and a wide selection of used models. In addition to retail vehicle sales, AutoNation provides financing, insurance and extended service contracts through its in-house financial services division, as well as genuine and aftermarket parts, factory-recommended maintenance and collision-repair services.

Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, AutoNation was founded in 1996 by entrepreneur H.