Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $16.00.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CARS. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $13.00 price target on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Friday, April 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Cars.com from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.00 target price (down from $16.00) on shares of Cars.com in a report on Friday, February 27th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Cars.com from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cars.com

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CARS. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cars.com by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Cars.com by 30.0% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,623 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Cars.com by 436.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 6,475 shares during the period. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Cars.com in the third quarter worth approximately $100,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Cars.com in the second quarter worth approximately $115,000. 89.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cars.com Price Performance

Cars.com stock opened at $11.02 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.87. Cars.com has a 52 week low of $7.40 and a 52 week high of $13.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $645.92 million, a P/E ratio of 34.42 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $9.20 and a 200-day moving average of $10.82.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.44 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cars.com will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.