Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Lowers Holdings in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lowered its position in shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) by 17.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,559 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,010 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in AutoNation were worth $1,436,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AutoNation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,748,000. Eminence Capital LP boosted its position in shares of AutoNation by 84.4% during the 4th quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 261,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,338,000 after purchasing an additional 119,866 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in shares of AutoNation by 47.0% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 342,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,491,000 after purchasing an additional 109,571 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 137.5% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 167,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,311,000 after purchasing an additional 96,797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoNation in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,247,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David B. Edelson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total transaction of $1,680,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 48,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,197,224. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of AutoNation from $142.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on AutoNation from $153.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on AutoNation from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on AutoNation from $169.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of AutoNation from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $183.25.

AutoNation Price Performance

NYSE:AN opened at $160.47 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.21. AutoNation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.81 and a 12-month high of $182.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The company’s 50-day moving average is $164.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.11.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $4.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.49 billion. AutoNation had a net margin of 3.41% and a return on equity of 42.44%. AutoNation’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.05 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.44 EPS for the current year.

AutoNation announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, April 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 14.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.