AutoNation (NYSE:AN) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company has raised its price target for AutoNation from $209.00 to $221.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.01% from the current stock price.
• AutoNation recently reported earnings of $5.46 EPS, exceeding expectations and showing a 7.6% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company has received mixed analyst ratings, with three ratings of hold, five buy ratings, and two strong buy ratings, leading to an overall average rating of "Moderate Buy".

AutoNation (NYSE:AN - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $209.00 to $221.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target would indicate a potential upside of 10.01% from the company's current price.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on AN. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on AutoNation from $212.00 to $183.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup upgraded AutoNation to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America increased their price target on AutoNation from $225.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Cfra Research upgraded AutoNation to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded AutoNation from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.38.

AutoNation Price Performance

AN stock traded down $2.36 on Monday, reaching $200.89. The company had a trading volume of 103,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 484,666. AutoNation has a 1 year low of $148.33 and a 1 year high of $217.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company's fifty day moving average is $196.18 and its 200 day moving average is $183.34. The company has a market cap of $7.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.56, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.99.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The company reported $5.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.76. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. AutoNation had a return on equity of 31.31% and a net margin of 2.31%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.99 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that AutoNation will post 18.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AutoNation

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AN. Moran Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AutoNation during the second quarter valued at approximately $225,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of AutoNation by 108.9% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 12,152 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,414,000 after acquiring an additional 6,335 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AutoNation by 6.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 6,619 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares during the period. JB Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of AutoNation by 4.4% during the second quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 11,875 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,359,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of AutoNation by 38.0% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 508 shares of the company's stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.62% of the company's stock.

AutoNation Company Profile

AutoNation, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an automotive retailer in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Domestic, Import, and Premium Luxury. It offers a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; and parts and services, such as automotive repair and maintenance, and wholesale parts and collision services.

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