Curat Global LLC Buys New Stake in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN)

Curat Global LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AutoNation by 50.3% in the fourth quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC now owns 1,461,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,172,000 after acquiring an additional 488,904 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its stake in AutoNation by 422.7% during the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 575,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,658,000 after purchasing an additional 465,000 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its holdings in AutoNation by 63.0% in the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,104,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,662,000 after purchasing an additional 426,882 shares during the period. Cartenna Capital LP acquired a new stake in AutoNation in the 4th quarter worth $56,831,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AutoNation in the 4th quarter worth $38,136,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on AutoNation from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research raised AutoNation to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AutoNation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised AutoNation to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.75.

AutoNation Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of AN opened at $187.15 on Friday. AutoNation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $148.33 and a 1 year high of $198.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.53. The stock has a market cap of $7.06 billion, a PE ratio of 11.05, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.99.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $4.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $6.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.53 billion. AutoNation had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.59%. The business’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.49 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.