Guggenheim Capital LLC Cuts Position in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN)

Guggenheim Capital LLC decreased its position in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN – Get Rating) by 24.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,683 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,112 shares during the quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC’s holdings in AutoNation were worth $680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of AutoNation by 9.3% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of AutoNation by 9.9% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Kendall Capital Management increased its position in shares of AutoNation by 0.9% during the third quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 12,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,289,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of AutoNation by 2.2% during the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 6,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $629,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AutoNation by 7.4% during the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.31% of the company’s stock.

AutoNation Stock Performance

NYSE AN opened at $141.03 on Friday. AutoNation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.92 and a 1 year high of $158.30. The company has a market capitalization of $6.61 billion, a PE ratio of 5.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $127.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $117.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 17th. The company reported $6.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.89 by $0.48. AutoNation had a net margin of 5.10% and a return on equity of 62.12%. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.76 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that AutoNation, Inc. will post 20.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of AutoNation from $126.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AutoNation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of AutoNation from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of AutoNation from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $104.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $169.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.38.

Insider Transactions at AutoNation

In other news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 63,090 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.46, for a total transaction of $7,410,551.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,003,888 shares in the company, valued at $705,216,684.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 7,615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.18, for a total value of $884,710.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,587,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $649,191,533.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 63,090 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.46, for a total value of $7,410,551.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,003,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,216,684.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 494,388 shares of company stock worth $61,157,197. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

AutoNation Profile

(Get Rating)

AutoNation, Inc engages in the provision of automotive products and services. It operates through the following segments: Domestic, Import, Premium Luxury, and Corporate & Other. The Domestic segment comprises retail automotive franchises that sell new vehicles manufactured by General Motors, Ford and Stellantis.