Citigroup Lowers AutoNation (NYSE:AN) Price Target to $255.00

Key Points

• Citigroup lowered AutoNation’s price target from $290 to $255 while maintaining a “buy” rating, implying approximately 52.45% upside from the stock’s $167.27 price.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with 10 buy ratings and two holds, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $246.50.
• AutoNation reported quarterly EPS of $5.56, slightly exceeding the $5.48 consensus estimate, though revenue of $6.93 billion fell short of expectations and declined 0.6% year over year.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN - Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by analysts at Citigroup from $290.00 to $255.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Citigroup's target price indicates a potential upside of 52.45% from the company's current price.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $235.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of AutoNation from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on AutoNation from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on AutoNation from $202.00 to $224.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded AutoNation from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $240.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AutoNation has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $246.50.

AutoNation Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:AN opened at $167.27 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $204.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $197.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.83, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.72. AutoNation has a 12-month low of $167.05 and a 12-month high of $235.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported $5.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7 billion. AutoNation had a return on equity of 31.24% and a net margin of 2.82%.The company's quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.26 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that AutoNation will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AutoNation news, Director Lisa Lutoff-Perlo sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $198,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,757,580. The trade was a 10.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AutoNation

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in AutoNation in the second quarter valued at about $438,689,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of AutoNation by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,478,991 shares of the company's stock valued at $288,784,000 after purchasing an additional 56,641 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AutoNation by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 517,514 shares of the company's stock valued at $106,878,000 after purchasing an additional 14,204 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of AutoNation by 8.7% in 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 period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AutoNation in the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,319,000. Institutional investors own 94.62% of the company's stock.

AutoNation Company Profile

AutoNation, Inc is a leading automotive retailer in the United States. The company sells new and used vehicles through a network of franchised dealerships and provides automotive services including vehicle financing, insurance products, maintenance, repair, parts, and collision-repair services.

In addition to its manufacturer-branded dealerships, AutoNation operates AutoNation USA locations focused primarily on used vehicles and offers digital tools that allow customers to research, purchase, finance, and service vehicles online.

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