Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on CARS. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Friday, February 27th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $13.50 price objective on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Cars.com from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, BTIG Research cut their target price on Cars.com from $17.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cars.com presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.08.

Cars.com Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:CARS opened at $7.82 on Monday. Cars.com has a one year low of $7.68 and a one year high of $13.97. The company has a 50 day moving average of $11.03 and a 200-day moving average of $11.69. 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 cap of $458.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.43 and a beta of 1.50.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.12). Cars.com had a net margin of 2.77% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The business had revenue of $183.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.44 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cars.com will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cars.com news, CFO Sonia Jain sold 11,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.45, for a total value of $153,330.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 243,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,276,984.90. This trade represents a 4.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cars.com

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Cars.com by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,139,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,296,000 after buying an additional 39,173 shares during the period. Par Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Cars.com by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Par Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,697,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,911,000 after acquiring an additional 639,000 shares during the period. Hill Path Capital LP grew its stake in Cars.com by 23.2% in the third quarter. Hill Path Capital LP now owns 2,481,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,318,000 after acquiring an additional 468,000 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cars.com in the second quarter worth about $16,456,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Cars.com by 13.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,203,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,708,000 after purchasing an additional 138,229 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.15% of the company’s stock.

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.