AutoZone’s (AZO) “Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at Wedbush

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Wedbush in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $3,700.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush’s target price suggests a potential upside of 5.54% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on AZO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,775.00 to $3,830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on AutoZone from $3,700.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,024.00 to $3,585.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,740.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,525.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,601.85.

AutoZone Stock Up 0.9 %

AZO stock traded up $32.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $3,505.67. 35,467 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 108,453. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $3,345.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,221.36. AutoZone has a twelve month low of $2,728.97 and a twelve month high of $3,563.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.70.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.11 by ($0.82). The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. Equities research analysts forecast that AutoZone will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,717,000 after purchasing an additional 6,898 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in AutoZone by 186.8% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 92,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,544,000 after buying an additional 60,483 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in AutoZone by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 34,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,455,000 after buying an additional 7,922 shares in the last quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,460,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 592.0% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 9,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,012,000 after buying an additional 7,879 shares during the period. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AutoZone Company Profile

AutoZone, Inc retails and distributes automotive replacement parts and accessories in the United States, Mexico, and Brazil. The company provides various products for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products.