Brokerages Set Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) PT at $17.70

Shares of Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $17.70.

A number of research firms have weighed in on CARS. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cars.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Zacks Research downgraded Cars.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $13.50 price objective on shares of Cars.com in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a report on Monday, November 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cars.com news, CFO Sonia Jain sold 11,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.45, for a total transaction of $153,330.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 243,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,276,984.90. This trade represents a 4.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Matthew B. Crawford sold 27,358 shares of Cars.com stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.03, for a total transaction of $329,116.74. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 71,103 shares in the company, valued at $855,369.09. This represents a 27.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cars.com

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hill Path Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Cars.com during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $23,854,000. Brown Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cars.com during the second quarter valued at approximately $16,456,000. Par Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Cars.com during the second quarter worth $14,220,000. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Cars.com in the second quarter worth $5,210,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Cars.com by 89.0% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 859,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,182,000 after purchasing an additional 404,603 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.15% of the company’s stock.

Cars.com Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Cars.com stock opened at $12.42 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. Cars.com has a 52 week low of $9.56 and a 52 week high of $19.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $12.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $742.60 million, a PE ratio of 26.99 and a beta of 1.45.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.02). Cars.com had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 4.16%.The firm had revenue of $181.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $181.37 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. Cars.com’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cars.com will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.