Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA Grows Stock Position in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN)

Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA raised its holdings in shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) by 60.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,038 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 770 shares during the quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA’s holdings in AutoNation were worth $359,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Partners purchased a new position in shares of AutoNation in the first quarter valued at about $170,270,000. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 781,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,607,000 after purchasing an additional 4,350 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AutoNation by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 300,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AutoNation in the fourth quarter worth about $42,748,000. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in AutoNation by 1.8% during the first 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 during the last quarter. 94.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AutoNation Stock Performance

NYSE AN opened at $158.96 on Wednesday. AutoNation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.81 and a fifty-two week high of $197.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.54, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $171.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $164.74.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by ($0.32). The firm had revenue of $6.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.72 billion. AutoNation had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 36.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.29 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that AutoNation, Inc. will post 17.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of AutoNation from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $169.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on AutoNation from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America raised their price target on AutoNation from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on AutoNation from $164.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AutoNation has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 23,703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.29, for a total value of $4,083,789.87. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,980,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $685,794,659.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other AutoNation news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 23,703 shares of AutoNation stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.29, for a total transaction of $4,083,789.87. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,980,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $685,794,659.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.21, for a total value of $17,621,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,880,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $683,777,090.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 216,959 shares of company stock worth $39,346,744. 0.74% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.