Royal Bank of Canada Acquires 103,156 Shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 7th, 2023

Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN – Get Rating) by 162.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 166,832 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 103,156 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.34% of AutoNation worth $16,995,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AN. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in shares of AutoNation in the second quarter worth $30,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 202.5% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 596 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the period. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoNation in the third quarter worth $83,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 101.6% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 9.3% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 63,090 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.46, for a total transaction of $7,410,551.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,003,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,216,684.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 62,379 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.92, for a total value of $7,355,731.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,096,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $718,955,645.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 63,090 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.46, for a total transaction of $7,410,551.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,003,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,216,684.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 547,322 shares of company stock valued at $67,189,590. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of AutoNation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of AutoNation from $169.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of AutoNation from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of AutoNation from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $104.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of AutoNation from $126.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.38.

AutoNation Stock Performance

NYSE AN opened at $138.99 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. AutoNation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.92 and a 12-month high of $158.30. The firm has a market cap of $6.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.72, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.11.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 17th. The company reported $6.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.89 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.52 billion. AutoNation had a net margin of 5.10% and a return on equity of 62.12%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.76 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that AutoNation, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

About AutoNation

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AutoNation, Inc engages in the provision of automotive products and services. It operates through the following segments: Domestic, Import, Premium Luxury, and Corporate & Other. The Domestic segment comprises retail automotive franchises that sell new vehicles manufactured by General Motors, Ford and Stellantis.