Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) Short Interest Up 9.8% in March

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,800,000 shares, a growth of 9.8% from the February 29th total of 1,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 366,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.9 days. Approximately 3.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cars.com currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.00.

Cars.com Stock Up 1.3 %

CARS traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $16.89. 75,178 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 374,141. Cars.com has a 12-month low of $14.82 and a 12-month high of $22.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $17.89 and a 200 day moving average of $17.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.64 and a beta of 2.05.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.07). Cars.com had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 25.78%. The firm had revenue of $179.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Cars.com will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cars.com

In other news, CEO Thomas Alex Vetter sold 14,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $284,981.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 553,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,523,834. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Thomas Alex Vetter sold 14,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $284,981.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 553,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,523,834. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Douglas Neal Miller sold 1,823 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.50, for a total transaction of $33,725.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 181,596 shares in the company, valued at $3,359,526. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,488 shares of company stock worth $654,361 in the last ninety days. 1.59% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cars.com

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Cars.com by 599.5% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 782,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,051,000 after purchasing an additional 670,982 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 138.9% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 51,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $868,000 after buying an additional 29,913 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 86,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after buying an additional 9,261 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 266,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,507,000 after buying an additional 43,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 873,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,728,000 after buying an additional 25,382 shares in the last quarter. 89.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.