AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Board Initiates Share Buyback Program

Key Points

• AutoZone's board has authorized a stock buyback program, indicating that leadership believes its stock is currently undervalued.
• In their recent earnings report, AutoZone missed estimates with earnings per share of $48.71, falling short of the $50.52 consensus.
• Analysts have varying targets for AutoZone's stock, with a consensus price target of $4,544.68, reflecting a generally positive outlook among equity research analysts.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, October 8th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

AutoZone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AZO traded down $65.49 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $4,020.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 112,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 143,805. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $4,141.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3,851.18. AutoZone has a 1 year low of $2,980.10 and a 1 year high of $4,388.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.40.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 23rd. The company reported $48.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $50.52 by ($1.81). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 60.49% and a net margin of 13.19%.The firm had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $51.58 earnings per share. AutoZone's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that AutoZone will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AZO shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,740.00 to $4,050.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,916.00 to $4,610.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, September 11th. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $4,850.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,504.00 to $4,499.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $4,200.00 to $4,850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $4,544.68.

Insider Activity

In other AutoZone news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,175.70, for a total transaction of $11,942,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 1,244 shares in the company, valued at $5,194,570.80. This represents a 69.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,875.90, for a total value of $11,627,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 2,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,337,007.50. This represents a 50.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About AutoZone

AutoZone, Inc retails and distributes automotive replacement parts and accessories in the United States, Mexico, and Brazil. The company provides various products for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products.

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