Cars.com’s (CARS) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at BTIG Research

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at BTIG Research in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $14.00 price objective on the stock. BTIG Research’s price objective points to a potential upside of 22.27% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on CARS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Cars.com from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Cars.com from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Zacks Research downgraded Cars.com from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. B. Riley Financial cut Cars.com from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Cars.com from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.67.

Cars.com Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CARS traded down $0.39 during trading on Thursday, reaching $11.45. 846,843 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,038,753. Cars.com has a 12 month low of $7.40 and a 12 month high of $13.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $10.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $640.09 million, a PE ratio of 26.51 and a beta of 1.60.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.51. Cars.com had a return on equity of 18.12% and a net margin of 3.73%.The business had revenue of $179.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.53 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Cars.com will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cars.com

In other news, CFO Sonia Jain sold 34,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.49, for a total value of $322,859.29. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 312,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,968,785.17. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cars.com

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 122.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 29,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 16,347 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 23.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 33,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 6,416 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Cars.com by 19.5% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 242,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,730,000 after buying an additional 39,561 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Cars.com by 62.3% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 218,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,588,000 after buying an additional 83,848 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Cars.com by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 223,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,653,000 after acquiring an additional 10,276 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.15% of the company’s stock.

About Cars.com

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.