Cambria Investment Management L.P. Trims Stock Holdings in AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Cambria Investment Management L.P. lowered its stake in shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) by 97.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,507 shares of the company’s stock after selling 66,727 shares during the period. Cambria Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in AutoNation were worth $330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AutoNation by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,176,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $694,950,000 after purchasing an additional 34,153 shares in the last quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of AutoNation by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC now owns 1,214,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,262,000 after purchasing an additional 84,455 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 11.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 907,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,460,000 after buying an additional 91,232 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of AutoNation by 10.5% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 697,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,967,000 after buying an additional 66,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP raised its position in shares of AutoNation by 38.3% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 548,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,034,000 after buying an additional 151,966 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore raised their target price on shares of AutoNation from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Barclays cut their price target on AutoNation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Bank of America started coverage on AutoNation in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut AutoNation from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AutoNation from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $235.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AutoNation currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.67.

AutoNation Price Performance

AN opened at $181.07 on Friday. AutoNation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $148.33 and a 52-week high of $228.92. The company has a 50 day moving average of $202.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $208.09. The company has a market cap of $6.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39.

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

AutoNation Company 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.