Visionary Horizons LLC Takes $857,000 Position in AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Visionary Horizons LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 3,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $857,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AN. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in AutoNation in the third quarter valued at about $633,000. HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AutoNation in the third quarter worth about $228,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its stake in shares of AutoNation by 19.7% in the third quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 7,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,597,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $463,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 7,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,728,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. 94.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AutoNation Price Performance

Shares of AN stock opened at $214.60 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $205.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $209.11. The firm has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 0.88. AutoNation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $148.33 and a 1-year high of $228.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.20.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $5.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.85 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.74 billion. AutoNation had a net margin of 2.38% and a return on equity of 31.84%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.02 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AutoNation announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, October 31st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 13.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $221.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of AutoNation from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AutoNation in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on AutoNation from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AutoNation currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $244.00.

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.