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

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) had its price objective lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $142.00 to $155.00 in a research report report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. Bank of America reduced their target price on AutoNation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on AutoNation from $165.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of AutoNation from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of AutoNation from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on AutoNation from $153.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AutoNation currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $176.63.

AutoNation Stock Performance

AN stock opened at $165.18 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $156.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $145.73. AutoNation has a 1-year low of $123.81 and a 1-year high of $182.08. 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 firm has a market cap of $6.65 billion, a PE ratio of 7.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.22.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $4.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.04. AutoNation had a return on equity of 42.44% and a net margin of 3.41%. The firm had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.05 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AutoNation will post 18.73 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoNation

In other AutoNation news, CAO Kimberly Dees sold 3,133 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.28, for a total transaction of $477,093.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,657.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Kimberly Dees sold 3,133 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.28, for a total transaction of $477,093.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,657.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David B. Edelson sold 10,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 48,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,197,224. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 131,279 shares of company stock valued at $21,041,962 in the last three months. 0.74% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AutoNation in the fourth quarter worth $42,748,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in AutoNation by 31.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 754,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,300,000 after buying an additional 181,942 shares during the last quarter. Eminence Capital LP lifted its position in AutoNation by 84.4% in the fourth quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 261,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,338,000 after buying an additional 119,866 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in 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 last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in AutoNation by 137.5% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 167,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,311,000 after purchasing an additional 96,797 shares during the period. 94.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.