Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Given “Outperform” Rating at Barrington Research

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by stock analysts at Barrington Research in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Barrington Research’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 44.18% from the stock’s current price.

Cars.com Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Cars.com stock traded up $0.25 during trading on Monday, reaching $17.34. The stock had a trading volume of 40,818 shares, compared to its average volume of 379,190. The company has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.02 and a beta of 2.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $17.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.84. Cars.com has a 52 week low of $14.82 and a 52 week high of $22.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $178.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.15 earnings per share. Cars.com’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Cars.com will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Douglas Neal Miller sold 1,823 shares of Cars.com stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 181,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,359,526. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Douglas Neal Miller sold 1,823 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.50, for a total value of $33,725.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 181,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,359,526. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas Alex Vetter sold 14,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $284,981.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 553,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,523,834. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,488 shares of company stock valued at $654,361 over the last ninety days. 2.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cars.com

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CARS. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Cars.com by 120.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,723,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,519,000 after buying an additional 940,376 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Cars.com by 94.6% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 252,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,788,000 after buying an additional 122,665 shares during the period. Greenvale Capital LLP grew its stake in shares of Cars.com by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Greenvale Capital LLP now owns 4,628,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,801,000 after acquiring an additional 90,222 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,134,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,292,000 after purchasing an additional 89,194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capula Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Cars.com during the third quarter valued at approximately $794,000. 89.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Cars.com

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.