Edgestream Partners L.P. Acquires 19,002 Shares of AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its holdings in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) by 54.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,948 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,002 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. owned 0.16% of AutoNation worth $10,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AN. Kentucky Retirement Systems bought a new stake in shares of AutoNation during the 1st quarter worth $1,041,000. Bull Harbor Capital LLC acquired a new position in AutoNation during the first quarter worth about $381,000. Amundi bought a new position in shares of AutoNation in the first quarter worth about $8,235,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 20.2% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 31,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,238,000 after acquiring an additional 5,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AutoNation by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 22,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,454,000 after purchasing an additional 2,357 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoNation news, CAO Kimberly Dees sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,348.96. This represents a 63.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AN. UBS Group began coverage on shares of AutoNation in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $234.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of AutoNation in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of AutoNation from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Northcoast Research upgraded AutoNation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on AutoNation from $208.00 to $202.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 6th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $246.18.

AutoNation Trading Up 4.3%

AN opened at $229.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.62, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.20. AutoNation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $176.62 and a fifty-two week high of $235.81. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $194.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $198.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.75.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported $4.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.71 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.65 billion. AutoNation had a return on equity of 31.45% and a net margin of 2.47%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that AutoNation, Inc. will post 21.41 earnings per share for the current year.

AutoNation 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.