AutoNation (NYSE:AN) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

AN has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of AutoNation from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of AutoNation from $194.00 to $176.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Stephens upped their price target on shares of AutoNation from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Cfra Research upgraded AutoNation to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on AutoNation from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.75.

AutoNation Stock Performance

AutoNation stock opened at $179.77 on Friday. AutoNation has a fifty-two week low of $148.33 and a fifty-two week high of $198.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $167.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.36. The stock has a market cap of $6.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.74.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $4.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.35 by $0.33. AutoNation had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.59%. The firm had revenue of $6.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.53 billion. The company’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.49 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that AutoNation will post 18.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AutoNation

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AN. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in AutoNation by 0.9% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in AutoNation by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC grew its stake in shares of AutoNation by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in shares of AutoNation by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 11,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,897,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.62% 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.