Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Sells 4,092 Shares of AutoNation, Inc. $AN

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC reduced its stake in shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,168 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,092 shares during the quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in AutoNation were worth $5,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in AutoNation by 3.2% in the third quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $454,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in AutoNation by 1.4% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,212,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in AutoNation by 7.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in AutoNation by 7.5% during the third quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 1,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on AN shares. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of AutoNation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AutoNation from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of AutoNation in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Stephens boosted their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AutoNation from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $235.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.67.

AutoNation Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of AutoNation stock opened at $193.81 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $206.79 and its 200 day moving average is $210.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a PE ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 0.89. AutoNation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $148.33 and a 1 year high of $228.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39.

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