AutoNation (NYSE:AN) Stock Price Target Lowered at Citigroup

Key Points

• Citigroup lowered AutoNation’s price target from $255 to $240 but maintained a “buy” rating, implying approximately 32% upside from the reported $181.60 share price.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: eight analysts rate AutoNation a buy, three hold, and two sell, resulting in an overall “hold” consensus and an average price target of $227.50.
• AutoNation slightly exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $5.11 in EPS versus the $5.08 consensus and $7.01 billion in revenue, although revenue declined 0.4% year over year.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by equities researchers at Citigroup from $255.00 to $240.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Citigroup's price objective suggests a potential upside of 32.16% from the company's current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Argus increased their price target on AutoNation from $241.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of AutoNation from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $240.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $248.00 to $213.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of AutoNation from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of AutoNation from an "overweight" rating to a "negative" rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $227.50.

AutoNation Stock Down 2.3%

AN traded down $4.30 on Tuesday, hitting $181.60. The company had a trading volume of 207,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 459,802. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $176.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.59. AutoNation has a 12-month low of $151.82 and a 12-month high of $235.81.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.08 by $0.03. AutoNation had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 31.24%. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.01 earnings per share. AutoNation's revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that AutoNation will post 21.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lisa Lutoff-Perlo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $198,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,757,580. This represents a 10.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AutoNation

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AN. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in AutoNation in the 2nd quarter valued at $438,689,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in AutoNation by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,478,991 shares of the company's stock worth $288,784,000 after purchasing an additional 56,641 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in AutoNation by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 383,615 shares of the company's stock worth $74,905,000 after purchasing an additional 30,725 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of AutoNation during the second quarter worth $36,925,000. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 8.2% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 186,969 shares of the company's stock worth $34,737,000 after buying an additional 14,115 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.62% of the company's stock.

AutoNation Company Profile

AutoNation, Inc is a U.S.-based automotive retailer that sells new and used vehicles through a network of dealerships and online sales channels. The company represents a range of domestic, import and luxury automotive brands, offering passenger cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles.

In addition to vehicle sales, AutoNation provides automotive maintenance and repair, parts, collision-repair services, vehicle protection products and financing options. Its retail operations include traditional dealerships as well as AutoNation USA locations, which focus primarily on used vehicles and related services.

Founded in 1996 as Republic Industries, the company adopted the AutoNation name as it developed its automotive retail business.

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