Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Makes New Investment in AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,304,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AN. Redwood Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoNation during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,171,000. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new stake in AutoNation in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,662,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in AutoNation during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,925,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in AutoNation during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,000,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in AutoNation in the second quarter worth approximately $3,483,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AN has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on AutoNation from $235.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of AutoNation from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AutoNation from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Seaport Research Partners restated a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price objective on shares of AutoNation in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $241.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $250.00.

Insider Transactions at AutoNation

In other AutoNation news, Director Lisa Lutoff-Perlo sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $198,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,757,580. This represents a 10.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

AutoNation Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of AutoNation stock opened at $208.94 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $203.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $197.46. AutoNation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $176.62 and a 12-month high of $235.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The company reported $5.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.48 by $0.08. AutoNation had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 31.24%. The firm had revenue of $6.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.26 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AutoNation, Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AutoNation 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.