Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $10.35, but opened at $10.60. Cars.com shares last traded at $10.5150, with a volume of 26,187 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Cars.com from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Cars.com from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Cars.com from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.83.

Cars.com Stock Up 1.4%

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $11.83 and a 200 day moving average of $10.53. The company has a market capitalization of $561.83 million, a PE ratio of 18.40 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.51. The business had revenue of $179.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.53 million. Cars.com had a return on equity of 18.82% and a net margin of 4.73%.The business’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Cars.com

In other Cars.com news, insider Angelique Marks sold 57,980 shares of Cars.com stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.94, for a total value of $692,281.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 149,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,786,653.84. The trade was a 27.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jr. Donald A. Mcgovern sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.25, for a total transaction of $98,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 102,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,260,525. This represents a 7.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cars.com

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pale Fire Capital SE increased its position in Cars.com by 1.3% in the second quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 4,008,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,850,000 after buying an additional 51,600 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Cars.com by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,401,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,620,000 after acquiring an additional 262,443 shares during the period. Breach Inlet Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cars.com in the 4th quarter worth about $8,899,000. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC raised its stake in Cars.com by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC now owns 405,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,948,000 after acquiring an additional 38,496 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Cars.com by 77.9% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 580,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,711,000 after acquiring an additional 253,991 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.15% of the company’s stock.

Cars.com Company Profile

Cars.com Inc (NYSE:CARS) operates a digital automotive marketplace that connects consumers with automobile dealers and manufacturers. Its platform helps shoppers research vehicles, compare listings, read reviews, explore pricing and incentives, and connect with dealerships when they are ready to buy or sell a vehicle.

The company provides automotive retailers with digital marketing and technology solutions designed to help them attract and engage customers. Its offerings include vehicle listings, dealer websites, digital retailing tools, customer relationship and lead-management services, reputation management, and advertising solutions.