Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Price Target Raised to $14.00

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) had its price target hoisted by investment analysts at BTIG Research from $13.00 to $14.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. BTIG Research’s price target indicates a potential upside of 12.81% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on CARS. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Cars.com from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings lowered Cars.com from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Zacks Research raised Cars.com from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.00 target price (down from $16.00) on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.17.

Cars.com Stock Up 10.9%

Cars.com stock traded up $1.22 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $12.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,128,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,219,235. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $721.39 million, a P/E ratio of 38.89 and a beta of 1.64. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.81. Cars.com has a 52-week low of $7.40 and a 52-week high of $13.97.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.12). Cars.com had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 2.77%.The business had revenue of $183.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.44 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. Cars.com’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cars.com will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC lifted its position in Cars.com by 36.7% during the third quarter. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC now owns 367,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,486,000 after buying an additional 98,559 shares during the period. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Cars.com during the third quarter worth approximately $1,673,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Cars.com by 143.4% during the third 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 during the period. Hill Path Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hill Path Capital LP now owns 2,481,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,318,000 after purchasing an additional 468,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cars.com during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,496,000. 89.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.