Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys 5,506 Shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) by 66.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,804 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,506 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AutoNation were worth $2,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in AutoNation in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in AutoNation by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in AutoNation by 81.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in AutoNation by 56.8% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in AutoNation by 762.6% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,000 after buying an additional 816 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

AutoNation Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of AN stock opened at $190.58 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market cap of $7.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $197.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $183.86. AutoNation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $148.33 and a 1 year high of $217.40.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported $5.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.76. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. AutoNation had a return on equity of 31.12% and a net margin of 2.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AN has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on AutoNation from $209.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Cfra Research raised AutoNation to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Stephens upped their target price on AutoNation from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Citigroup raised AutoNation to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on AutoNation from $225.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.38.

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.