Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $14.6667.

CARS has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Cars.com from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. BTIG Research increased their target price on Cars.com from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. B. Riley Financial cut shares of Cars.com from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Cars.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Monday, April 13th.

Cars.com Price Performance

Shares of Cars.com stock traded up $0.18 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $11.58. 151,181 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,100,372. Cars.com has a 52-week low of $7.40 and a 52-week high of $13.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.43. The company has a market capitalization of $647.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.90 and a beta of 1.59.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $180.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.16 million. Cars.com had a return on equity of 18.12% and a net margin of 3.73%.Cars.com’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Cars.com will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Sonia Jain sold 34,021 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.49, for a total transaction of $322,859.29. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 312,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,968,785.17. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cars.com

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in Cars.com by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 38,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd increased its position in shares of Cars.com by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd now owns 12,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,367 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Cars.com by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 43,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Cars.com by 30.0% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 1,623 shares during the period. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury raised its holdings in Cars.com by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 36,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 1,859 shares during the period. 89.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cars.com Company Profile

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.