Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stake in AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) by 8.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,410 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,920 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of AutoNation worth $7,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Visionary Horizons LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoNation in the 3rd quarter valued at about $857,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of AutoNation during the third quarter valued at approximately $633,000. HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in AutoNation during the third quarter valued at approximately $228,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its stake in AutoNation by 19.7% in the third quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 7,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,597,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Securian Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AutoNation by 13.9% during the third quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. 94.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded AutoNation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AutoNation in a research note on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of AutoNation from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of AutoNation from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AutoNation has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $244.00.

AutoNation Price Performance

Shares of AN stock opened at $215.28 on Friday. AutoNation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $148.33 and a fifty-two week high of $228.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $206.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $209.15.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $5.01 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 analyst estimates of $6.74 billion. AutoNation had a net margin of 2.38% and a return on equity of 31.84%. AutoNation’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.02 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AutoNation declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, October 31st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 13.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

AutoNation Profile

AutoNation, Inc is the largest automotive retailer in the United States, operating a network of franchised new vehicle dealerships, pre-owned vehicle superstores and collision-repair centers. The company offers a comprehensive range of automotive products and services, including the sale of new cars and light trucks from leading manufacturers, certified pre-owned vehicles and a wide selection of used models. In addition to retail vehicle sales, AutoNation provides financing, insurance and extended service contracts through its in-house financial services division, as well as genuine and aftermarket parts, factory-recommended maintenance and collision-repair services.

Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, AutoNation was founded in 1996 by entrepreneur H.