Grove Bank & Trust Buys Shares of 20,000 AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,130,000. Grove Bank & Trust owned 0.05% of AutoNation at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. HM Payson & Co. purchased a new position in AutoNation in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in AutoNation in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in 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. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AutoNation by 37.4% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of AutoNation in the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AN. 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. Bank of America started coverage on shares of AutoNation in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of AutoNation from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 8th. Evercore boosted their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $233.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.67.

AutoNation Price Performance

AN stock opened at $181.07 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $202.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $208.09. AutoNation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $148.33 and a 12-month high of $228.92. 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 has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 0.89.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported $5.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.91 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $6.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.21 billion. AutoNation had a return on equity of 31.69% and a net margin of 2.35%.AutoNation’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.97 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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.