Creative Planning Has $1.87 Million Stock Position in AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Creative Planning grew its position in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) by 5.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,427 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 511 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in AutoNation were worth $1,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AutoNation by 144.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 416,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,950,000 after purchasing an additional 245,994 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in AutoNation during the first quarter worth $36,060,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in AutoNation by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,256,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,261,000 after buying an additional 219,474 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in AutoNation by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,964,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,749,000 after buying an additional 149,959 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of AutoNation in the 1st quarter valued at $10,865,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

AutoNation Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of AN opened at $210.59 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.39, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.87. AutoNation, Inc. has a one year low of $148.33 and a one year high of $228.92. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $208.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $204.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.20.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $5.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.85 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.74 billion. AutoNation had a return on equity of 31.84% and a net margin of 2.38%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.02 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AutoNation announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, October 31st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 13.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AN shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AutoNation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AutoNation in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on AutoNation from $230.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Bank of America cut their target price on AutoNation from $255.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on AutoNation in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.11.

AutoNation Company Profile

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.