Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) saw a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,690,000 shares, a drop of 27.8% from the February 28th total of 2,340,000 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 541,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Autohome

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Autohome by 33.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 105,514 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,484,000 after buying an additional 26,657 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Autohome by 8.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 261,564 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,532,000 after acquiring an additional 19,983 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Autohome by 16.9% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 31,193 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 4,516 shares during the last quarter. BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Autohome in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Autohome by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,382,468 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,096,000 after purchasing an additional 27,501 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.08% of the company’s stock.

Autohome Trading Down 1.6 %

Autohome stock traded down $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $27.74. 359,687 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 504,009. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $28.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.60. The company has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.99 and a beta of 0.20. Autohome has a twelve month low of $21.89 and a twelve month high of $34.70.

Autohome (NYSE:ATHM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The information services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. Autohome had a net margin of 23.02% and a return on equity of 7.79%. The business had revenue of $244.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $243.26 million. On average, analysts expect that Autohome will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATHM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Autohome to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Autohome from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $24.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Autohome from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

About Autohome

Autohome Inc operates as an online destination for automobile consumers in the People’s Republic of China. The company delivers interactive content and tools to automobile consumers through its three websites, autohome.com.cn, che168.com, and ttpai.cn on PCs, mobile devices, mobile applications, and mini apps.