Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on CARS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Cars.com from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $14.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research cut Cars.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.50.

Cars.com Price Performance

NYSE CARS opened at $10.18 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $12.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $625.46 million, a PE ratio of 16.42 and a beta of 1.76. Cars.com has a 1 year low of $9.56 and a 1 year high of $20.47.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.04). Cars.com had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 5.71%.The company had revenue of $178.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. Cars.com’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Cars.com will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Cars.com

In related news, insider Matthew B. Crawford sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.77, for a total value of $176,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 98,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,158,885.97. The trade was a 13.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cars.com

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Cars.com by 119.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 2,305 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Cars.com by 624.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 4,043 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cars.com by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Cars.com by 30.0% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Cars.com by 436.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 6,475 shares during the last quarter. 89.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cars.com Company Profile

Cars.com Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a digital automotive marketplace that connects local car dealers to consumers in the United States. The company offers a suite of digital solutions that creates connections between individuals researching cars or looking to purchase a car with car dealerships and automotive original equipment manufacturers.