Gabelli Funds LLC Sells 28,100 Shares of AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Gabelli Funds LLC lessened its stake in shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) by 10.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 237,850 shares of the company’s stock after selling 28,100 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC owned about 0.65% of AutoNation worth $52,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AutoNation in the second quarter valued at about $62,613,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in shares of AutoNation by 219.6% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 316,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,957,000 after purchasing an additional 217,774 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AutoNation by 51.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 631,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,439,000 after purchasing an additional 215,577 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new stake in shares of AutoNation in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,601,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 20.6% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 815,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,085,000 after purchasing an additional 139,363 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

AutoNation Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of AN stock opened at $193.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $207.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $210.31. 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 2.39, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported $5.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.91 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $6.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. AutoNation had a return on equity of 31.69% and a net margin of 2.35%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.97 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on AutoNation from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AutoNation from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $235.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Evercore increased their price target on AutoNation from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Stephens lifted their price objective on AutoNation from $228.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered AutoNation from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.67.

AutoNation Company 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.