Insider Buying: Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Director Buys $15,082.20 in Stock

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) Director Jenell Ross acquired 1,995 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $7.56 per share, for a total transaction of $15,082.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 69,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $525,253.68. This represents a 2.96% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Cars.com Stock Performance

CARS stock opened at $7.97 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $10.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.48. Cars.com Inc. has a 12 month low of $7.40 and a 12 month high of $13.97. The company has a market capitalization of $467.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.89 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.12). Cars.com had a net margin of 2.77% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The business had revenue of $183.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $183.44 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CARS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Cars.com in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Cars.com from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research lowered Cars.com from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, BTIG Research decreased their target price on Cars.com from $17.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cars.com has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.08.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cars.com

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hill Path Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cars.com in the second quarter valued at about $23,854,000. Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cars.com during the 2nd quarter worth about $16,456,000. Par Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Cars.com during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $14,220,000. Breach Inlet Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Cars.com during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,899,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Cars.com by 112.1% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,127,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,751,000 after buying an additional 595,609 shares during the last quarter. 89.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cars.com Company Profile

Cars.com operates as a leading online automotive marketplace in the United States, connecting car shoppers with new and used vehicle listings from dealerships and private sellers. The platform enables consumers to research makes and models, compare prices, read expert and user reviews, and access tools such as TrueCost to estimate ownership expenses over time. Through its website and mobile applications, Cars.com aims to simplify the car-buying process by aggregating detailed vehicle data, payment calculators, and dealership ratings into a single user-friendly experience.

On the dealer side, Cars.com provides a suite of marketing and lead-generation services designed to help automotive retailers reach potential buyers and manage their online presence.