AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Hits New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $4,400.00 to $4,000.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. AutoZone traded as low as $3,071.71 and last traded at $3,112.00, with a volume of 62469 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $3,406.50.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on AZO. TD Cowen dropped their price target on AutoZone from $4,250.00 to $3,700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $4,300.00 price target (up from $4,150.00) on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Tuesday. Roth Mkm lowered their target price on AutoZone from $4,526.00 to $4,023.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on AutoZone from $4,020.00 to $3,605.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AutoZone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,040.87.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In related news, Director Earl G. Graves, Jr. sold 50 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,478.72, for a total value of $173,936.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,826,568.64. The trade was a 1.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting AutoZone

Here are the key news stories impacting AutoZone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AutoZone reported stronger-than-expected EPS and 8.4% revenue growth, with commercial sales up 10.4% and management pointing to continued share gains and store expansion. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Despite recent weakness, multiple analysts still rate AZO as Buy/Outperform/Overweight and expect substantial upside, including Jefferies, BNP Paribas Exane, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and others. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies, BNP Paribas Exane, Truist, Goldman Sachs, TD Cowen, Citi, and others lowered price targets, signaling more cautious near-term expectations even as ratings stayed mostly positive. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: AutoZone said late-quarter softness was partly weather-related, while commentary on the earnings call emphasized that growth is continuing even amid accounting and margin headwinds. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The stock sold off after the report because revenue fell short of Wall Street expectations and gross margin compressed, raising concerns about profitability trends. Article Title

Institutional Trading of AutoZone

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in AutoZone by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,797,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,711,912,000 after buying an additional 26,544 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in AutoZone by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 492,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,671,323,000 after purchasing an additional 74,555 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in AutoZone by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 387,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,312,654,000 after purchasing an additional 7,390 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in AutoZone during the 4th quarter valued at $939,205,000. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in AutoZone by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 269,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $912,900,000 after purchasing an additional 3,868 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $3,438.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,575.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.43.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 26th. The company reported $38.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $36.22 by $1.85. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.86 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 72.31% and a net margin of 12.47%.AutoZone’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $35.36 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 149.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AutoZone Company Profile

AutoZone, Inc (NYSE: AZO) is a retailer and distributor of automotive replacement parts and accessories. Headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, the company supplies a wide range of aftermarket components, maintenance items and accessories for passenger cars, light trucks and commercial vehicles. Its product assortment includes engine parts, electrical components, batteries, brakes, filters, fluids and interior and exterior accessories, supported by inventory management and logistics systems to serve retail customers and professional service providers.

AutoZone serves both do‑it‑yourself (DIY) consumers and commercial customers such as independent repair shops and service centers.