AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $248.6667.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on AutoNation from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered AutoNation from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Bank of America assumed coverage on AutoNation in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on AutoNation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of AutoNation from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $235.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 16th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AutoNation

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in AutoNation by 192,434.0% during the fourth 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 during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AutoNation during the 4th quarter valued at $69,319,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings 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 worth $73,064,000 after buying an additional 241,265 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 219.6% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 316,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,957,000 after buying an additional 217,774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of AutoNation by 51.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 631,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,439,000 after buying an additional 215,577 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

AutoNation Stock Performance

NYSE:AN opened at $192.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market cap of $6.60 billion, a PE ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $200.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $207.06. AutoNation has a 1-year low of $148.33 and a 1-year high of $228.92.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported $5.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.91 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $6.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.21 billion. AutoNation had a net margin of 2.35% and a return on equity of 31.69%. AutoNation’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.97 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that AutoNation will post 18.15 EPS for the current year.

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.