Fifth Third Bancorp Acquires 21,380 Shares of AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) by 4,709.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,834 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 21,380 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in AutoNation were worth $4,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 68.0% in the first quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 4,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,718 shares in the last quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 2.0% during the first quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. now owns 165,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,275,000 after buying an additional 3,314 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 16.9% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after buying an additional 1,601 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in AutoNation in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $245,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC raised its position in AutoNation by 28.7% in the 1st quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 2,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Kimberly Dees sold 2,500 shares of AutoNation stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.91, for a total transaction of $512,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,348.96. This trade represents a 63.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on AN. Weiss Ratings upgraded AutoNation from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $208.00 to $202.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 6th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of AutoNation in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of AutoNation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of AutoNation in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $234.00 target price for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $246.18.

AutoNation Price Performance

Shares of AN opened at $205.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.62. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $191.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $198.47. AutoNation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $176.62 and a 1-year high of $228.92. The company has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.16, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.75.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The company reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.71 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.65 billion. AutoNation had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 31.45%. The business’s revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.68 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that AutoNation, Inc. will post 21.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.