Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Takes $433,000 Position in Cars.com Inc. $CARS

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 53,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $433,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. owned 0.09% of Cars.com as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Cars.com by 143.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 531,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,495,000 after purchasing an additional 313,128 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its position in shares of Cars.com by 487.0% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 160,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 133,002 shares in the last quarter. Hill Path Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 23.2% in the third quarter. Hill Path Capital LP now owns 2,481,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,318,000 after purchasing an additional 468,000 shares during the last quarter. Kestrel Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Cars.com in the fourth quarter worth about $3,752,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Cars.com by 83.3% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 191,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,330,000 after buying an additional 86,800 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.15% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Sonia Jain sold 52,579 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 346,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,315,924.24. This represents a 13.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cars.com Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE CARS opened at $11.31 on Monday. Cars.com Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.40 and a 1-year high of $13.97. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $10.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $632.17 million, a P/E ratio of 26.30 and a beta of 1.59.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $180.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.16 million. Cars.com had a net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 18.12%. Cars.com’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CARS has been the subject of a number of research reports. B. Riley Financial lowered Cars.com from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research cut Cars.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Monday, June 29th. UBS Group raised their target price 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. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of Cars.com from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cars.com currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.67.

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.