Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 5,572 Shares of AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its position in shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 152,589 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,572 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in AutoNation were worth $31,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AN. HM Payson & Co. acquired a new position in shares of AutoNation in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoNation during the third quarter worth $37,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in AutoNation by 355.3% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 173 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in AutoNation by 37.4% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 235 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in AutoNation in the third quarter valued at $48,000. Institutional investors own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on AN shares. Stephens upped their price target on shares of AutoNation from $228.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Bank of America started coverage on AutoNation in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on AutoNation from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 8th. Barclays decreased their target price on AutoNation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded AutoNation from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AutoNation has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.67.

AutoNation Price Performance

AN stock opened at $192.36 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.60 billion, a PE ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day moving average is $200.12 and its 200-day moving average is $207.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.22. AutoNation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $148.33 and a 1 year high of $228.92.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported $5.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.91 by $0.17. AutoNation had a return on equity of 31.69% and a net margin of 2.35%.The business had revenue of $6.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that AutoNation, Inc. will post 18.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About AutoNation

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.