Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $10.35, but opened at $10.60. Cars.com shares last traded at $10.5150, with a volume of 26,187 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on CARS. Zacks Research raised shares of Cars.com from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Cars.com in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Cars.com from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Cars.com from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.83.

Cars.com Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $561.83 million, a P/E ratio of 18.40 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $11.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.53.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.51. Cars.com had a return on equity of 18.82% and a net margin of 4.73%.The business had revenue of $179.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.53 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cars.com

In other Cars.com news, Director Jr. Donald A. Mcgovern sold 8,000 shares of Cars.com stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.25, for a total value of $98,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 102,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,260,525. The trade was a 7.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Angelique Marks sold 57,980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.94, for a total transaction of $692,281.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 149,636 shares in the company, valued at $1,786,653.84. This represents a 27.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pale Fire Capital SE increased its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 1.3% during the second quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 4,008,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,850,000 after acquiring an additional 51,600 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,401,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,620,000 after purchasing an additional 262,443 shares in the last quarter. Breach Inlet Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cars.com in the 4th quarter valued at $8,899,000. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC grew its position in Cars.com by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC now owns 405,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,948,000 after purchasing an additional 38,496 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Cars.com by 77.9% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 580,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,711,000 after purchasing an additional 253,991 shares in the last quarter. 89.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cars.com Company Profile

Cars.com Inc (NYSE:CARS) operates a digital automotive marketplace that connects consumers with automobile dealers and manufacturers. Its platform helps shoppers research vehicles, compare listings, read reviews, explore pricing and incentives, and connect with dealerships when they are ready to buy or sell a vehicle.

The company provides automotive retailers with digital marketing and technology solutions designed to help them attract and engage customers. Its offerings include vehicle listings, dealer websites, digital retailing tools, customer relationship and lead-management services, reputation management, and advertising solutions.