Critical Review: Openlane (OPLN) versus Its Peers

Openlane (NYSE:OPLN) is one of 355 publicly-traded companies in the “Commercial Services & Supplies” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its rivals? We will compare Openlane to similar businesses based on the strength of its valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Openlane and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Openlane	0	2	4	1	2.86
Openlane Competitors	1839	6117	9005	657	2.48

Openlane presently has a consensus target price of $43.83, indicating a potential upside of 27.46%. As a group, “Commercial Services & Supplies” companies have a potential upside of 10.60%. Given Openlane’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Openlane is more favorable than its rivals.

Volatility and Risk

Openlane has a beta of 1.28, meaning that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Openlane’s rivals have a beta of 2.45, meaning that their average share price is 145% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Openlane and its rivals revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Openlane	$1.93 billion	$177.70 million	-40.46
Openlane Competitors	$2.41 billion	$139.29 million	16.73

Openlane’s rivals have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Openlane. Openlane is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Openlane and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Openlane	9.67%	12.81%	3.62%
Openlane Competitors	-58.22%	-118.46%	-1.28%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

99.8% of Openlane shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.6% of shares of all “Commercial Services & Supplies” companies are held by institutional investors. 2.2% of Openlane shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.7% of shares of all “Commercial Services & Supplies” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Openlane beats its rivals on 9 of the 13 factors compared.

Openlane Company Profile

OPENLANE Inc. provides sellers and buyers across the wholesale used vehicle industry with technology-driven remarketing solutions. The company’s end-to-end platform supports whole car, financing, logistics and other ancillary and related services. OPENLANE Inc., formerly known as KAR Auction Services Inc., is based in CARMEL, Ind.