Corton Capital Inc. Takes $259,000 Position in AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in AutoNation during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,060,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in AutoNation by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,256,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,261,000 after acquiring an additional 219,474 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in AutoNation by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,964,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,749,000 after acquiring an additional 149,959 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of AutoNation in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $10,865,000. 94.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America cut their price target on AutoNation from $255.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $205.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of AutoNation from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of AutoNation from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of AutoNation from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.50.

AutoNation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AN opened at $198.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.79. AutoNation, Inc. has a one year low of $148.33 and a one year high of $228.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.67, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s fifty day moving average is $216.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $201.45.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $5.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.85 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.04 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.02 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AutoNation announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, October 31st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 13.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

AutoNation Company Profile

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.