Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $14.6667.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Cars.com from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research cut shares of Cars.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Cars.com from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of Cars.com in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, B. Riley Financial cut shares of Cars.com from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, May 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cars.com news, CFO Sonia Jain sold 52,579 shares of the business’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 transaction of $502,655.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 346,854 shares in the company, valued at $3,315,924.24. The trade was a 13.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Cars.com by 143.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 531,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,495,000 after acquiring an additional 313,128 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its holdings in Cars.com by 487.0% during the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 160,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,953,000 after acquiring an additional 133,002 shares in the last quarter. Hill Path Capital LP grew its holdings in Cars.com by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hill Path Capital LP now owns 2,481,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,318,000 after acquiring an additional 468,000 shares in the last quarter. Kestrel Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in Cars.com during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,752,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Cars.com by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 327,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,999,000 after acquiring an additional 123,504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.15% of the company’s stock.

Cars.com Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of CARS stock opened at $11.13 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $621.89 million, a P/E ratio of 25.87 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $10.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.48. Cars.com has a fifty-two week low of $7.40 and a fifty-two week high of $13.97.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $180.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.16 million. Cars.com had a net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 18.12%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.37 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Cars.com will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Cars.com

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.