Quent Long Short Global Small Cap Fund LP Makes New Investment in AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Key Points

• Quent Long Short Global Small Cap Fund opened a new position in AutoNation in Q4, buying 6,401 shares worth about $1.32 million, and institutional investors now own 94.62% of the stock.
• Analyst consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $244.33; notable recent moves include JPMorgan upgrading to overweight ($235 PT), Bank of America initiating coverage at Buy, and Citigroup setting a $269 buy target.
• AutoNation trades around $203 with a $6.98 billion market cap; it reported Q EPS of $5.08 (beating estimates) but missed revenue, and shows a P/E of 11.91 and ROE of 31.69%.

Quent Long Short Global Small Cap Fund LP bought a new position in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 6,401 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,322,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Simcoe Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoNation during the 3rd quarter valued at about $18,988,000. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AutoNation during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,140,000. Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of AutoNation during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,024,000. 44 Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoNation during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,378,000. Finally, Dynasty Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AutoNation by 65.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,991 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 2,759 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.62% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of 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. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of AutoNation from a "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of AutoNation in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $228.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $280.00 to $269.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $244.33.

AutoNation Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of AutoNation stock opened at $203.23 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a fifty day moving average of $195.66 and a 200 day moving average of $204.25. AutoNation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.29 and a fifty-two week high of $228.92.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported $5.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.91 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $6.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. AutoNation had a net margin of 2.35% and a return on equity of 31.69%. AutoNation's quarterly revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.97 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AutoNation, Inc. will post 21.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AutoNation Profile

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.