Grove Bank & Trust Buys Shares of 20,000 AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Key Points

• Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new stake of 20,000 shares of AutoNation in Q4 valued at about $4.13 million, representing roughly 0.05% of the company, while institutional investors own about 94.62% of the stock.
• Wall Street consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $248.67, and several brokers including JPMorgan, Evercore and Morgan Stanley have recently upgraded ratings or raised targets.
• AutoNation reported quarterly EPS of $5.08 (beating estimates) while revenue fell 3.9% year-over-year; the stock trades around $181.07, with a PE of 10.61 and a market cap near $6.22 billion.

Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,130,000. Grove Bank & Trust owned 0.05% of AutoNation at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. HM Payson & Co. purchased a new position in AutoNation in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in AutoNation in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in AutoNation by 355.3% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 173 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AutoNation by 37.4% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 235 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of AutoNation in the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.62% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AutoNation from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $235.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of AutoNation in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of AutoNation from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Sunday, February 8th. Evercore boosted their price target on shares of AutoNation from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $233.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $248.67.

AutoNation Price Performance

AN stock opened at $181.07 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $202.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $208.09. AutoNation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $148.33 and a 12-month high of $228.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The company has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 0.89.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported $5.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.91 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $6.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.21 billion. AutoNation had a return on equity of 31.69% and a net margin of 2.35%.AutoNation's revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.97 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.15 EPS for the current year.

About AutoNation

AutoNation, Inc is the largest automotive retailer in the United States, operating a network of franchised new vehicle dealerships, pre-owned vehicle superstores and collision-repair centers. The company offers a comprehensive range of automotive products and services, including the sale of new cars and light trucks from leading manufacturers, certified pre-owned vehicles and a wide selection of used models. In addition to retail vehicle sales, AutoNation provides financing, insurance and extended service contracts through its in-house financial services division, as well as genuine and aftermarket parts, factory-recommended maintenance and collision-repair services.

Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, AutoNation was founded in 1996 by entrepreneur H.

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