Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) have been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $17.15.

Several brokerages have weighed in on ATHM. HSBC lowered Autohome from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $17.30 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research raised Autohome from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Autohome in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Autohome from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Autohome from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th.

Insider Transactions at Autohome

In other news, CFO Yan Zeng sold 24,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.35, for a total transaction of $105,705.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 169,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $739,239. This represents a 12.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CTO Bibo Xiang sold 10,508 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.35, for a total value of $45,709.80. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 62,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $271,300.80. This represents a 14.42% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Corporate insiders own 5.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Autohome

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Autohome by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,968,365 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $227,497,000 after purchasing an additional 868,151 shares during the period. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in Autohome by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,308,693 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $95,912,000 after purchasing an additional 20,228 shares during the period. M&G PLC boosted its stake in Autohome by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. M&G PLC now owns 3,420,121 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $75,243,000 after purchasing an additional 413,287 shares during the period. Krane Funds Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Autohome by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 3,387,052 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $93,178,000 after purchasing an additional 678,214 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Autohome by 86.9% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,852,839 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $63,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326,281 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.08% of the company’s stock.

Autohome Price Performance

Shares of ATHM stock opened at $16.52 on Monday. Autohome has a fifty-two week low of $15.57 and a fifty-two week high of $29.92. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $17.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61 and a beta of 0.23.

Autohome (NYSE:ATHM) last issued its earnings results on Sunday, February 15th. The information services provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter. Autohome had a return on equity of 5.01% and a net margin of 17.91%.The company had revenue of $208.96 million for the quarter. As a group, research analysts expect that Autohome will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Autohome Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. Autohome’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.97%.

About Autohome

Autohome Inc (NYSE: ATHM) operates one of China’s leading online destinations for automobile consumers, offering a comprehensive suite of digital platforms and services throughout the vehicle ownership lifecycle. Headquartered in Beijing, the company’s core website and mobile applications deliver news, reviews, pricing information, photos, videos and interactive tools to help prospective buyers evaluate new and used vehicles. By aggregating rich editorial content with user-generated ratings and expert analyses, Autohome seeks to guide consumers through research, purchase and after-sales decision-making.

In addition to its consumer-facing properties, Autohome provides automakers, dealers and service providers with integrated digital marketing and e-commerce solutions.