Mach 1 Financial Group LLC Invests $556,000 in AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Mach 1 Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 0.9% during the third quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 13.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 519 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 3.2% during the third quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $454,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 37.4% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 7.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

AutoNation Price Performance

NYSE:AN opened at $186.57 on Friday. AutoNation, Inc. has a one year low of $176.25 and a one year high of $228.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $6.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.11, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $195.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $202.43.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.71 by ($0.02). AutoNation had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 31.45%. The business had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.68 earnings per share. AutoNation’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that AutoNation, Inc. will post 21.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AutoNation news, CAO Kimberly Dees sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.91, for a total value of $512,275.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,348.96. This represents a 63.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AN. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $207.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $228.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded AutoNation from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of AutoNation in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on AutoNation in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AutoNation currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.33.

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.