Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $14.6667.

CARS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Cars.com from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on Cars.com from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings cut Cars.com from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Cars.com from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, B. Riley Financial cut Cars.com from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 8th.

Cars.com Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CARS opened at $9.34 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $521.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.71 and a beta of 1.60. Cars.com has a one year low of $7.40 and a one year high of $13.97.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.03). The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.37 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Cars.com will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Cars.com

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Cars.com by 30.0% in the second 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 Cars.com by 436.0% in the second 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 bought a new stake in Cars.com in the third quarter valued at $100,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Cars.com during the second quarter worth $115,000. Finally, AXA S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Cars.com during the second quarter worth $126,000. 89.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.