Breach Inlet Capital Management LLC Takes $8.90 Million Position in Cars.com Inc. $CARS

Breach Inlet Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 729,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,899,000. Cars.com accounts for about 4.2% of Breach Inlet Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Breach Inlet Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.22% of Cars.com as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CARS. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Cars.com by 30.0% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,623 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Cars.com by 436.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 6,475 shares during the period. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Cars.com in the 3rd quarter valued at about $100,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Cars.com in the 2nd quarter valued at about $115,000. Finally, AXA S.A. purchased a new position in Cars.com in the 2nd quarter valued at about $126,000. 89.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cars.com Trading Down 2.9%

CARS opened at $9.84 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.58. Cars.com Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.40 and a 1-year high of $13.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $549.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88 and a beta of 1.60.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.03). Cars.com had a return on equity of 18.12% and a net margin of 3.73%.The business had revenue of $180.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.16 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cars.com news, CFO Sonia Jain sold 52,579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.56, for a total value of $502,655.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 346,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,315,924.24. This trade represents a 13.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CARS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Cars.com from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Cars.com from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Friday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Cars.com from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Cars.com from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cars.com currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.67.

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.