JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts AutoNation (NYSE:AN) Price Target to $210.00

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) had its target price dropped by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $235.00 to $210.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective suggests a potential downside of 2.59% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on AN. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $248.00 target price on shares of AutoNation in a report on Monday. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of AutoNation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of AutoNation from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of AutoNation in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on AutoNation from $287.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $247.45.

AutoNation Price Performance

AN stock traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $215.59. 248,281 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 425,892. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $196.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $198.40. AutoNation has a 52-week low of $176.62 and a 52-week high of $235.81. The company has a market capitalization of $7.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.62, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.20.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported $5.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.48 by $0.08. AutoNation had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 30.91%. The firm had revenue of $6.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that AutoNation will post 21.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AutoNation

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AN. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 192,434.0% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,424,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $913,557,000 after purchasing an additional 4,422,133 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in AutoNation by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,478,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $288,784,000 after buying an additional 56,641 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in AutoNation by 11.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 907,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,460,000 after buying an additional 91,232 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in AutoNation by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 895,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,808,000 after buying an additional 5,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in AutoNation by 10.5% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 697,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,967,000 after acquiring an additional 66,183 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.62% of the company’s stock.

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.