Karooooo (NASDAQ:KARO) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Karooooo Ltd. (NASDAQ:KARO) gapped down prior to trading on Monday after Freedom Capital downgraded the stock from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating. The stock had previously closed at $65.16, but opened at $62.69. Karooooo shares last traded at $64.03, with a volume of 10,948 shares changing hands.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on KARO. Wall Street Zen cut Karooooo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Karooooo in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Karooooo in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Karooooo from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Karooooo from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Karooooo presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $73.50.

Institutional Trading of Karooooo

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KARO. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Karooooo by 39.4% during the 4th quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd now owns 238,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,833,000 after acquiring an additional 67,322 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its stake in Karooooo by 238.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 17,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 12,621 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel bought a new stake in Karooooo in the 4th quarter valued at $1,651,000. Bullseye Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Karooooo by 101.7% during the 4th quarter. Bullseye Asset Management LLC now owns 32,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,461,000 after purchasing an additional 16,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in Karooooo by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 78,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after purchasing an additional 14,600 shares during the last quarter.

Karooooo Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.55 and a beta of 0.89.

Karooooo (NASDAQ:KARO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $96.26 million for the quarter. Karooooo had a net margin of 17.74% and a return on equity of 32.03%. Research analysts expect that Karooooo Ltd. will post 2.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Karooooo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 27th. Investors of record on Friday, July 17th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This is an increase from Karooooo’s previous annual dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 17th. This represents a yield of 239.0%. Karooooo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.14%.

Karooooo Company Profile

Karooooo Ltd is a global provider of telematics software-as-a-service solutions for vehicle and fleet management. Through its flagship platform, the company delivers real-time GPS tracking, stolen vehicle recovery and driver behaviour analytics, enabling commercial fleets and automotive insurers to optimise operations, increase safety and reduce costs.

Karooooo’s SaaS platform integrates proprietary hardware devices with cloud-based analytics and mobile applications. Customers gain access to live vehicle location data, engine diagnostics, route planning tools and customizable reporting dashboards.