JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases AutoNation (NYSE:AN) Price Target to $155.00

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) had its price objective lifted by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $142.00 to $155.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective points to a potential downside of 4.79% from the company’s previous close.

AN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of AutoNation in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $185.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on AutoNation from $153.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AutoNation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of AutoNation from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.63.

AutoNation Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of AutoNation stock traded down $0.06 during trading on Thursday, reaching $162.79. The stock had a trading volume of 81,115 shares, compared to its average volume of 460,350. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The company has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.22. AutoNation has a 52 week low of $123.81 and a 52 week high of $182.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $155.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $145.42.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $4.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.49 billion. AutoNation had a return on equity of 42.44% and a net margin of 3.41%. AutoNation’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.05 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that AutoNation will post 18.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AutoNation announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, April 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 14.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AutoNation news, Director David B. Edelson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total transaction of $1,680,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 48,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,197,224. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other AutoNation news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 10,804 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.56, for a total value of $1,669,866.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,267,860 shares in the company, valued at $659,640,441.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David B. Edelson sold 10,000 shares of AutoNation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $1,680,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 48,793 shares in the company, valued at $8,197,224. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 131,279 shares of company stock worth $21,041,962 in the last ninety days. 0.74% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AutoNation

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AN. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of AutoNation by 31.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 754,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,300,000 after purchasing an additional 181,942 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in shares of AutoNation by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 342,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,491,000 after buying an additional 109,571 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of AutoNation by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 300,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,203,000 after buying an additional 1,166 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AutoNation in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,748,000. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AutoNation by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 267,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,317,000 after buying an additional 4,720 shares in the last quarter. 94.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.