Wedbush Weighs in on AutoZone, Inc.’s FY2022 Earnings (NYSE:AZO)

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO – Get Rating) – Equities researchers at Wedbush boosted their FY2022 earnings per share estimates for AutoZone in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, May 25th. Wedbush analyst S. Basham now forecasts that the company will earn $117.42 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $113.54. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for AutoZone’s Q4 2022 earnings at $40.40 EPS, Q2 2023 earnings at $23.49 EPS, Q4 2023 earnings at $45.46 EPS, FY2023 earnings at $128.63 EPS and FY2024 earnings at $145.97 EPS.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 24th. The company reported $29.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $25.70 by $3.33. The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 15.44% and a negative return on equity of 109.21%. AutoZone’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $26.48 EPS.

AZO has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $2,175.00 to $2,200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 2nd. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of AutoZone from $2,215.00 to $2,174.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of AutoZone from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2,096.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, February 8th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $1,900.00 to $1,920.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $2,063.47.

AZO stock opened at $1,964.66 on Thursday. AutoZone has a 52-week low of $1,367.96 and a 52-week high of $2,267.40. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $2,037.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,975.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.90.

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,513,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,173,680,000 after acquiring an additional 15,922 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in AutoZone by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,188,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,430,495,000 after purchasing an additional 144,984 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in AutoZone by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 901,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,889,678,000 after purchasing an additional 16,973 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its stake in AutoZone by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 737,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,509,438,000 after purchasing an additional 19,083 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in AutoZone by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 443,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $927,398,000 after purchasing an additional 3,608 shares during the period. 95.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

In other news, EVP Preston Frazer sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,220.00, for a total transaction of $3,330,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,738,260. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Philip B. Daniele sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,900.00, for a total value of $190,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,682 shares of company stock worth $16,146,334 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

About AutoZone (Get Rating)

AutoZone, Inc retails and distributes automotive replacement parts and accessories. The company offers various products for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products. Its products include A/C compressors, batteries and accessories, bearings, belts and hoses, calipers, chassis, clutches, CV axles, engines, fuel pumps, fuses, ignition and lighting products, mufflers, radiators, starters and alternators, thermostats, and water pumps, as well as tire repairs.

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