JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts AutoNation (NYSE:AN) Price Target to $210.00

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) had its price target reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $235.00 to $210.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on AN. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $248.00 price objective on shares of AutoNation in a research note on Monday. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price target on shares of AutoNation in a research note on Monday. Northcoast Research raised shares of AutoNation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on AutoNation from $202.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised AutoNation from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.36.

AutoNation Stock Performance

Shares of AutoNation stock opened at $211.26 on Tuesday. AutoNation has a fifty-two week low of $176.62 and a fifty-two week high of $235.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $197.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $198.41.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported $5.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.48 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7 billion. AutoNation had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 31.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.26 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that AutoNation will post 21.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AutoNation

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in AutoNation by 192,434.0% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,424,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $913,557,000 after purchasing an additional 4,422,133 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in AutoNation in the 4th quarter valued at $69,319,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of AutoNation by 260.2% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 333,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,064,000 after purchasing an additional 241,265 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AutoNation by 51.8% during 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, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of AutoNation in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,673,000. Institutional investors own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

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.