Cibc World Market Inc. Acquires Shares of 14,331 AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new position in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 14,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,663,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 37.4% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of AutoNation during the third quarter worth $48,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in AutoNation by 49.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in AutoNation by 33.0% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in AutoNation in the second quarter valued at about $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AN has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded AutoNation from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $241.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of AutoNation from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $248.00 target price on shares of AutoNation in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $250.00.

AutoNation Stock Down 0.2%

AN opened at $196.37 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $200.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.51. AutoNation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $176.62 and a fifty-two week high of $235.81.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported $5.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7 billion. AutoNation had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 31.24%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that AutoNation, Inc. will post 21.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lisa Lutoff-Perlo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $198,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,989 shares in the company, valued at $1,757,580. This represents a 10.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

About AutoNation

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.