Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Raises Holdings in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,605,708 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 41,712 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 3.99% of AutoNation worth $255,910,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of AutoNation during the 2nd quarter worth $15,832,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AutoNation by 25.1% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,700,000 after purchasing an additional 5,917 shares during the last quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA lifted its stake in shares of AutoNation by 60.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA now owns 2,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. Factorial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of AutoNation by 33.3% during the 2nd quarter. Factorial Partners LLC now owns 3,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its stake in shares of AutoNation by 36.2% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 30,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,929,000 after purchasing an additional 8,225 shares during the last quarter. 94.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on AutoNation from $164.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on AutoNation from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Bank of America upped their target price on AutoNation from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on AutoNation from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on AutoNation in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $194.25.

AutoNation Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of AN stock opened at $170.84 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $172.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a PE ratio of 8.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.20. AutoNation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.81 and a fifty-two week high of $197.18.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by ($0.32). The firm had revenue of $6.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.72 billion. AutoNation had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 36.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that AutoNation, Inc. will post 17.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 39,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.43, for a total transaction of $7,189,355.42. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,786,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,492,393.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 39,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.43, for a total transaction of $7,189,355.42. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,786,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,492,393.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 $685,794,659.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 216,959 shares of company stock valued at $39,346,744 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

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.