Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Reduces Holdings in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL reduced its position in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) by 2.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 457,717 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,565 shares during the period. AutoNation makes up about 0.8% of Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned approximately 1.04% of AutoNation worth $75,345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AutoNation in the first quarter valued at about $249,000. Ethic Inc. grew its position in shares of AutoNation by 11.6% during the first quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 5,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $715,000 after buying an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of AutoNation by 11.1% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 11,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,923,000 after buying an additional 1,168 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its holdings in AutoNation by 46.1% in the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TBH Global Asset Management LLC bought a new position in AutoNation during the 1st quarter valued at $384,000. 97.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AutoNation Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AN traded up $3.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $135.57. The company had a trading volume of 515,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 576,760. AutoNation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.72 and a 12 month high of $182.08. The stock has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.81, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $140.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.48.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 27th. The company reported $5.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.42 by $0.12. AutoNation had a return on equity of 54.72% and a net margin of 4.06%. The company had revenue of $6.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.00 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AutoNation, Inc. will post 22.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of AutoNation from $171.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 9th. StockNews.com raised AutoNation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 1st. Guggenheim decreased their target price on AutoNation from $184.00 to $179.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on AutoNation from $105.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of AutoNation from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $173.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AutoNation news, Director George Lawrence Mikan III sold 16,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.59, for a total transaction of $2,676,483.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,841,340.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

AutoNation Company Profile

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.