44 Wealth Management LLC Takes $1.38 Million Position in AutoNation, Inc. $AN

44 Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,378,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AN. HM Payson & Co. purchased a new position in shares of AutoNation during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in AutoNation during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted 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 worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of AutoNation by 37.4% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 235 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of AutoNation in the third quarter worth $48,000. 94.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of AutoNation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. 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 note on Friday, January 16th. Bank of America started coverage on AutoNation in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings cut AutoNation from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Evercore increased their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.67.

AutoNation Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of AN opened at $183.39 on Friday. AutoNation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $148.33 and a twelve month high of $228.92. The company has a market cap of $6.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.75 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. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $205.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $209.37.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.21 billion. AutoNation had a net margin of 2.35% and a return on equity of 31.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.97 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.15 EPS for the current year.

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.