AutoNation (NYSE:AN) Declares Share Buyback Plan

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Friday, April 26th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 14.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

AutoNation Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE AN opened at $161.13 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $6.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.24. AutoNation has a 1 year low of $123.81 and a 1 year high of $182.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $155.21 and a 200 day moving average of $145.30.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $4.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.04. AutoNation had a net margin of 3.41% and a return on equity of 43.48%. The firm had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.05 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AutoNation will post 18.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AN shares. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of AutoNation in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $185.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of AutoNation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of AutoNation from $165.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of AutoNation from $153.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of AutoNation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AutoNation presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.26, for a total transaction of $16,126,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,167,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $672,013,960.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.26, for a total value of $16,126,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,167,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $672,013,960.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 10,804 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.56, for a total transaction of $1,669,866.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,267,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $659,640,441.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 121,279 shares of company stock worth $19,361,962 over the last three months. 0.74% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.