Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $17.70.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CARS shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Cars.com in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cars.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Cars.com from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Cars.com from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Sonia Jain sold 11,400 shares of Cars.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.45, for a total transaction of $153,330.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 243,642 shares in the company, valued at $3,276,984.90. This trade represents a 4.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Matthew B. Crawford sold 27,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 71,103 shares in the company, valued at $855,369.09. The trade was a 27.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cars.com

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CARS. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Cars.com by 33.7% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 557,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,626,000 after purchasing an additional 140,493 shares during the last quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC raised its position in Cars.com by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 321,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,816,000 after purchasing an additional 31,548 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Cars.com by 71.3% during the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 102,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,154,000 after buying an additional 42,641 shares during the period. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cars.com in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,210,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cars.com by 53.4% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 57,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $677,000 after buying an additional 19,894 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.15% of the company’s stock.

Cars.com Price Performance

Shares of CARS stock opened at $12.25 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.20. The company has a market cap of $732.37 million, a P/E ratio of 26.62 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Cars.com has a twelve month low of $9.56 and a twelve month high of $19.00.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $181.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $181.37 million. Cars.com had a net margin of 4.16% and a return on equity of 18.32%. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cars.com will post 1.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cars.com Company Profile

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.