Focus Partners Wealth Makes New $503,000 Investment in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN)

Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,961 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $503,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eisler Capital Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of AutoNation during the fourth quarter worth $5,135,000. Crestline Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of AutoNation during the fourth quarter worth $5,843,000. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 50.3% during the fourth quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC now owns 1,461,213 shares of the company's stock worth $248,172,000 after buying an additional 488,904 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 52,599 shares of the company's stock worth $8,933,000 after buying an additional 6,407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 82,982 shares of the company's stock worth $14,094,000 after buying an additional 2,372 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.62% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on AutoNation from $194.00 to $176.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup raised AutoNation to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Stephens boosted their price target on AutoNation from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on AutoNation from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on AutoNation from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AutoNation presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $200.75.

AutoNation Price Performance

AutoNation stock traded up $1.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $182.23. The company had a trading volume of 423,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 458,511. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.30. AutoNation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $148.33 and a fifty-two week high of $198.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 1.00.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $4.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.35 by $0.33. AutoNation had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.59%. The company had revenue of $6.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.49 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.15 earnings per share for the current year.

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.