AutoNation (NYSE:AN) Price Target Raised to $200.00 at Stephens

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) had its target price hoisted by Stephens from $195.00 to $200.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on AutoNation from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on AutoNation from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price objective on AutoNation from $190.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AutoNation presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.71.

AutoNation Trading Down 1.7 %

AN stock opened at $191.77 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $179.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.37. AutoNation has a fifty-two week low of $136.35 and a fifty-two week high of $198.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.20.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $4.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.71. AutoNation had a return on equity of 32.01% and a net margin of 2.74%. Analysts expect that AutoNation will post 16.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AN. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,814,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,312,000 after purchasing an additional 203,335 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 2.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 854,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,804,000 after purchasing an additional 19,037 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 23.3% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 851,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,682,000 after purchasing an additional 160,794 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 435,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,965,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 327,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,566,000 after purchasing an additional 6,277 shares in the last quarter. 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.