Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $172.22, but opened at $183.25. Carvana shares last traded at $180.90, with a volume of 891,416 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CVNA. Wedbush set a $250.00 price target on Carvana and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $340.00 price target on shares of Carvana in a report on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Carvana from $252.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Carvana from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Carvana from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $265.65.

Carvana Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82, a current ratio of 3.64 and a quick ratio of 2.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.48 and a beta of 3.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $230.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $213.89.

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.27. Carvana had a net margin of 1.54% and a return on equity of 36.59%. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.32 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Carvana Co. will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Carvana

In other news, insider Ryan S. Keeton sold 24,845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.90, for a total transaction of $6,159,075.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 151,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,440,089.10. The trade was a 14.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark W. Jenkins sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.75, for a total transaction of $2,007,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 189,097 shares in the company, valued at $37,961,222.75. The trade was a 5.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 94,629 shares of company stock valued at $24,758,919 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 17.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in Carvana in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Carvana by 109.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Carvana in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Carvana in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in Carvana during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.71% of the company’s stock.

About Carvana

Carvana Co, together with its subsidiaries, operates an e-commerce platform for buying and selling used cars in the United States. Its platform allows customers to research and identify a vehicle; inspect it using company's 360-degree vehicle imaging technology; obtain financing and warranty coverage; purchase the vehicle; and schedule delivery or pick-up from their desktop or mobile devices.