Caprock Group LLC Purchases New Stake in AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,309,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in AutoNation by 18.4% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 87,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,043,000 after buying an additional 13,514 shares in the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC purchased a new position in AutoNation in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $445,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in AutoNation during the third quarter worth $221,000. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in AutoNation by 9.0% during the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. acquired a new stake in AutoNation in the third quarter valued at $5,445,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Evercore raised their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Stephens upped their target price on AutoNation from $228.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AutoNation in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.11.

AutoNation Price Performance

AN opened at $202.10 on Friday. AutoNation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $148.33 and a 1 year high of $228.92. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $211.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.37 billion, a PE ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.79.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported $5.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.91 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $6.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. AutoNation had a net margin of 2.35% and a return on equity of 31.30%. AutoNation’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.97 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.15 EPS for the current year.

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