$6.84 Billion in Sales Expected for AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) This Quarter

Wall Street brokerages forecast that AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN – Get Rating) will post sales of $6.84 billion for the current quarter, Zacks reports. Four analysts have provided estimates for AutoNation’s earnings, with the lowest sales estimate coming in at $6.48 billion and the highest estimate coming in at $7.02 billion. AutoNation reported sales of $6.98 billion during the same quarter last year, which indicates a negative year over year growth rate of 2%. The firm is scheduled to report its next earnings results on Monday, January 1st.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that AutoNation will report full year sales of $27.51 billion for the current financial year, with estimates ranging from $26.63 billion to $28.04 billion. For the next financial year, analysts expect that the firm will report sales of $28.30 billion, with estimates ranging from $27.28 billion to $29.44 billion. Zacks’ sales calculations are an average based on a survey of sell-side analysts that that provide coverage for AutoNation.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 21st. The company reported $5.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $6.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.51 billion. AutoNation had a net margin of 5.60% and a return on equity of 59.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.79 EPS.

A number of research firms have issued reports on AN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of 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 report on Thursday, April 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AutoNation from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 9th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of AutoNation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Monday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $137.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of AutoNation from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AutoNation presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $146.86.

AutoNation stock opened at $123.82 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $110.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 1.14. AutoNation has a fifty-two week low of $88.32 and a fifty-two week high of $133.48.

In other AutoNation news, CAO Christopher Cade sold 8,627 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.69, for a total value of $989,430.63. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 13,210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.29, for a total transaction of $1,496,560.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 432,709 shares of company stock worth $47,964,300. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of AutoNation by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $572,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AutoNation by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $750,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Leuthold Group LLC grew its stake in shares of AutoNation by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Leuthold Group LLC now owns 36,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,436,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of AutoNation by 65.9% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 297 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in shares of AutoNation by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 7,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $959,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. 84.44% of the stock is 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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