Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Acquires Shares of 5,212 AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 5,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,140,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HM Payson & Co. bought a new stake in AutoNation in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of AutoNation in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of AutoNation by 355.3% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AutoNation by 2,477.8% during the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 232 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AutoNation by 37.4% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 235 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 94.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of AutoNation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AutoNation in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on AutoNation from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on AutoNation from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on AutoNation from $228.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AutoNation presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.11.

AutoNation Stock Down 2.2%

NYSE AN opened at $202.10 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93. The company has a market cap of $7.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50 day moving average of $211.30 and a 200-day moving average of $210.41. AutoNation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $148.33 and a 1-year high of $228.92.

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 firm had revenue of $6.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. AutoNation had a return on equity of 31.30% and a net margin of 2.35%.The company’s revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.97 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AutoNation announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Friday, October 31st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 13.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.