Benjamin Edwards Inc. Increases Holdings in Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,436 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,772 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Cars.com were worth $458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Cars.com by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,178,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,021,000 after acquiring an additional 655,518 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Cars.com by 609.2% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 442,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,675,000 after purchasing an additional 380,439 shares in the last quarter. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cars.com during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,460,000. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cars.com in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,890,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cars.com during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,408,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on CARS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Cars.com from $17.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Cars.com from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Cars.com from $21.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cars.com presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.30.

Cars.com Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CARS opened at $10.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.42. Cars.com Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.56 and a fifty-two week high of $21.24. The company has a market cap of $663.23 million, a PE ratio of 18.00 and a beta of 1.95.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.02). Cars.com had a return on equity of 9.99% and a net margin of 5.46%. The company had revenue of $179.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.82 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

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.