Legacy Advisory Services LLC Buys Shares of 3,034 AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Key Points

• Legacy Advisory Services LLC acquired 3,034 shares of AutoNation, Inc. valued at approximately $491,000, marking it as the firm's 28th largest holding.
• Various large institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and AQR Capital Management, have recently increased their stakes in AutoNation, with institutional ownership now at 94.62%.
• Analysts have raised price targets for AutoNation shares, with the average target now at $223.25, reflecting a generally positive outlook on the stock's performance.

Legacy Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $491,000. AutoNation accounts for about 0.4% of Legacy Advisory Services LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in AutoNation by 7.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,256,308 shares of the company's stock valued at $527,261,000 after purchasing an additional 219,474 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in AutoNation by 8.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,964,187 shares of the company's stock valued at $318,749,000 after buying an additional 149,959 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in AutoNation by 2.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 676,568 shares of the company's stock valued at $109,550,000 after buying an additional 15,112 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AutoNation by 144.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 416,167 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,950,000 after buying an additional 245,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in AutoNation by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 241,513 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,019,000 after buying an additional 1,897 shares in the last quarter. 94.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AutoNation Price Performance

AN traded up $4.04 on Thursday, reaching $227.29. 616,575 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 362,090. The stock has a market cap of $8.57 billion, a PE ratio of 14.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.89. AutoNation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $148.33 and a twelve month high of $228.92. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $208.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.21.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported $5.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.76. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. AutoNation had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 31.12%. AutoNation's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.15 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $230.00 to $228.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of AutoNation from $209.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of AutoNation from $255.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of AutoNation from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of AutoNation from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AutoNation has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $222.63.

About AutoNation

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.