KBC Group NV Sells 14,069 Shares of Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM)

KBC Group NV lowered its stake in Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) by 63.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,032 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 14,069 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Autohome were worth $262,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ATHM. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Autohome by 41.0% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 28,957 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $759,000 after buying an additional 8,425 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its position in Autohome by 18.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 98,555 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,611,000 after purchasing an additional 15,063 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Autohome by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,333,350 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $61,180,000 after purchasing an additional 53,441 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Autohome by 74.6% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 18,859 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 8,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of Autohome by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 197,193 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,171,000 after purchasing an additional 6,076 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.08% of the company’s stock.

Autohome Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of ATHM stock opened at $27.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.55 and a beta of 0.18. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $29.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.59. Autohome Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.89 and a 12 month high of $34.70.

Autohome declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, September 4th that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Autohome Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a Variable dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a yield of 5.8%. This is a positive change from Autohome’s previous Variable dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Autohome’s payout ratio is presently 83.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ATHM. CLSA downgraded Autohome from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Benchmark downgraded shares of Autohome from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Autohome from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Autohome to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Autohome has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

Autohome Company Profile

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.