AutoNation (AN) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know
In the latest trading session, AutoNation (AN) closed at $53.36, marking a -1.42% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.12%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.88%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 1.07%.
Coming into today, shares of the auto retailer had lost 6.93% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector lost 1.2%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.59%.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from AN as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect AN to post earnings of $1.47 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 24.58%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $5.19 billion, down 4.9% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $5.46 per share and revenue of $19.94 billion, which would represent changes of +20% and -6.53%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for AN. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.39% higher. AN is holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) right now.
Investors should also note AN's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 9.92. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 11.68.
Investors should also note that AN has a PEG ratio of 1.23 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.38 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 2, putting it in the top 1% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
To follow AN in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
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