Stephens Inc. AR Sells 525 Shares of AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Stephens Inc. AR lowered its stake in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) by 4.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,073 shares of the company’s stock after selling 525 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in AutoNation were worth $2,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new position in AutoNation in the second quarter valued at approximately $356,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in AutoNation in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,430,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in AutoNation in the second quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Tweedy Browne Co LLC bought a new position in AutoNation in the second quarter valued at approximately $503,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in AutoNation by 26.1% in the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 171,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,995,000 after buying an additional 35,376 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of AutoNation from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AutoNation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AutoNation in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $221.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.63.

AutoNation Stock Performance

Shares of AN stock opened at $215.88 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $8.14 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.85. AutoNation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $148.33 and a 12 month high of $228.92. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $218.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $198.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported $5.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.76. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. AutoNation had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 31.12%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About AutoNation

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.