National Bank Financial Upgrades AutoCanada (TSE:ACQ) to “Strong-Buy”

AutoCanada (TSE:ACQ) was upgraded by stock analysts at National Bank Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. National Bankshares upgraded shares of AutoCanada from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from C$17.00 to C$21.00 in a research report on Thursday. Acumen Capital lowered their target price on shares of AutoCanada from C$21.50 to C$19.75 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of AutoCanada from C$18.00 to C$15.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Cormark cut their price target on shares of AutoCanada from C$25.50 to C$21.75 in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of AutoCanada from C$19.50 to C$19.00 in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$19.50.

AutoCanada Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of AutoCanada stock traded down C$0.26 on Wednesday, hitting C$18.64. 22,178 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 47,777. AutoCanada has a one year low of C$13.75 and a one year high of C$27.44. The stock has a market capitalization of C$432.26 million, a PE ratio of -12.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 2.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 444.38, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is C$15.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$17.78.

AutoCanada (TSE:ACQ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The company reported C($0.96) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.34 by C($1.30). AutoCanada had a negative return on equity of 6.62% and a negative net margin of 0.59%. The company had revenue of C$1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$1.62 billion. On average, research analysts expect that AutoCanada will post 2.4311927 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoCanada

In other news, insider EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. acquired 18,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$14.88 per share, with a total value of C$270,901.54. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 119,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,779,856. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About AutoCanada

AutoCanada Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates franchised automobile dealerships and related business. The company offers a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles, vehicle leasing, vehicle parts, vehicle maintenance and collision repair services, and extended service contracts; and vehicle protection, after-market products, and auction services.