Karooooo Ltd. (NASDAQ:KARO) Shares Shorted: Short Interest Up 223.2% in September

Karooooo Ltd. (NASDAQ:KARO) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 214,139 shares, an increase of 223.2% from the September 15th total of 66,254 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 91,708 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Currently, 2.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KARO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Karooooo from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Karooooo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Karooooo from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of Karooooo in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Freedom Capital cut shares of Karooooo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.50.

Karooooo Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:KARO opened at $61.57 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Karooooo has a 52-week low of $41.25 and a 52-week high of $68.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.25 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $63.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.05.

Karooooo (NASDAQ:KARO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.08. Karooooo had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 17.74%. The firm had revenue of $96.26 million for the quarter. Equities analysts predict that Karooooo will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Karooooo

In related news, CEO Isaias Calisto sold 33,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.14, for a total transaction of $2,237,714.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 17,714,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,171,616,262.04. This represents a 0.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 277,617 shares of company stock worth $17,840,247. Corporate insiders own 74.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Karooooo

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in shares of Karooooo during the second quarter worth $518,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in Karooooo during the second quarter valued at $64,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Karooooo during the second quarter valued at $54,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Karooooo by 9.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Karooooo in the first quarter valued at $1,015,000.

About Karooooo

Karooooo Ltd. is a technology company that provides software-as-a-service solutions for connected vehicles, fleet management, and mobility operations. Through its Cartrack business, the company offers vehicle tracking, fleet monitoring, driver safety tools, asset management, and data analytics designed to help businesses improve productivity, security, and operational efficiency.

Cartrack’s platform collects and analyzes telematics data, providing customers with real-time visibility into vehicles and other mobile assets.