Versor Investments LP Makes New Investment in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN)

Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 4,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $673,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in AutoNation by 4.2% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 15,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,514,000 after acquiring an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 1.0% during the second quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 24,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,840,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 1.2% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $866,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 10.3% during the second quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 10,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,693,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 11.3% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 20,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,253,000 after purchasing an additional 2,066 shares during the last quarter. 94.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on AN. Guggenheim increased their target price on AutoNation from $169.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on AutoNation from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on AutoNation from $164.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on AutoNation from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on AutoNation from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AutoNation has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.71.

AutoNation Trading Down 3.4 %

NYSE:AN opened at $171.89 on Wednesday. AutoNation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.81 and a 1-year high of $197.18. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $171.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $163.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.15, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.20.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.31 by ($0.32). AutoNation had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 36.50%. The company had revenue of $6.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that AutoNation, Inc. will post 17.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoNation

In other AutoNation news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 53,562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.45, for a total value of $10,361,568.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,825,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $740,108,361.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 53,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.45, for a total transaction of $10,361,568.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,825,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $740,108,361.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 23,703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.29, for a total value of $4,083,789.87. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,980,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $685,794,659.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 216,959 shares of company stock valued at $39,346,744. 0.74% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AutoNation 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.