AutoNation (AN) Set to Announce Earnings on Friday

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) is scheduled to issue its quarterly earnings data before the market opens on Friday, April 26th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $4.49 per share for the quarter. Persons interested in registering for the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $5.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.85 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $6.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.67 billion. AutoNation had a net margin of 3.79% and a return on equity of 48.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.37 EPS. On average, analysts expect AutoNation to post $19 EPS for the current fiscal year and $20 EPS for the next fiscal year.

AutoNation Price Performance

Shares of AutoNation stock opened at $159.52 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $153.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $144.42. AutoNation has a one year low of $123.81 and a one year high of $182.08.

Insider Transactions at AutoNation

In other AutoNation news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 100,000 shares of AutoNation stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.26, for a total transaction of $16,126,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,167,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $672,013,960.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other AutoNation news, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.26, for a total transaction of $16,126,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,167,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $672,013,960.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Edward S. Lampert sold 10,804 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.56, for a total transaction of $1,669,866.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,267,860 shares in the company, valued at $659,640,441.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 121,279 shares of company stock worth $19,361,962. Company insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AN shares. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of AutoNation from $165.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on AutoNation from $144.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on AutoNation in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $185.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of AutoNation from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of AutoNation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.00.

About AutoNation

AutoNation, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an automotive retailer in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Domestic, Import, and Premium Luxury. It offers a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles; and parts and services, such as automotive repair and maintenance, and wholesale parts and collision services.