Zacks: Brokerages Expect AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) Will Post Quarterly Sales of $6.63 Billion

Wall Street brokerages predict that AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN – Get Rating) will post sales of $6.63 billion for the current quarter, Zacks Investment Research reports. Four analysts have made estimates for AutoNation’s earnings, with the highest sales estimate coming in at $7.22 billion and the lowest estimate coming in at $6.33 billion. AutoNation posted sales of $5.90 billion during the same quarter last year, which would suggest a positive year over year growth rate of 12.4%. The business is scheduled to issue its next quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Monday, January 1st.

On average, analysts expect that AutoNation will report full year sales of $27.19 billion for the current financial year, with estimates ranging from $26.09 billion to $28.20 billion. For the next fiscal year, analysts expect that the business will report sales of $27.54 billion, with estimates ranging from $26.66 billion to $29.35 billion. Zacks Investment Research’s sales calculations are a mean average based on a survey of research analysts that cover AutoNation.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 17th. The company reported $5.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.00 by $0.76. AutoNation had a return on equity of 50.46% and a net margin of 5.31%. The company had revenue of $6.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.43 EPS. AutoNation’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on AutoNation in a report on Tuesday, January 18th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $135.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AutoNation from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on AutoNation from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded AutoNation from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $142.86.

Shares of AutoNation stock opened at $103.12 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $108.89 and a 200 day moving average of $114.23. AutoNation has a 12 month low of $88.32 and a 12 month high of $133.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

In other AutoNation news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 600 shares of AutoNation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.03, for a total transaction of $66,018.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David B. Edelson sold 13,200 shares of AutoNation stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.00, for a total value of $1,425,600.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 197,046 shares of company stock worth $20,194,087 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AN. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 699.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 84,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,839,000 after purchasing an additional 73,677 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 6.6% in the third quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 166,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,231,000 after purchasing an additional 10,304 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AutoNation in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,450,000. EAM Global Investors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AutoNation in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,280,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 18,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,189,000 after purchasing an additional 5,469 shares during the period. 91.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About AutoNation (Get Rating)

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.

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