AutoNation (NYSE:AN) Coverage Initiated at Bank of America

Bank of America began coverage on shares of AutoNation (NYSE:AN) in a note issued to investors on Wednesday. The firm set a “buy” rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings cut AutoNation from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. Evercore raised their target price on shares of AutoNation from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on AutoNation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AutoNation from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $235.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.67.

AutoNation Stock Performance

Shares of AutoNation stock opened at $193.19 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.71 billion, a PE ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. AutoNation has a 12 month low of $148.33 and a 12 month high of $228.92. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $207.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.41.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The company reported $5.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.91 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $6.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. AutoNation had a net margin of 2.35% and a return on equity of 31.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.97 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that AutoNation will post 18.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AN. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in AutoNation in the third quarter worth about $1,140,000. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC bought a new stake in AutoNation during the second quarter worth approximately $1,251,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AutoNation in the third quarter worth approximately $1,401,000. Davis Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of AutoNation during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,024,000. Finally, Dynasty Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in AutoNation by 65.2% during the third quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after buying an additional 2,759 shares in the last quarter. 94.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About AutoNation

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.