Auto Trader Group (LON:AUTO) Trading Down 8% – Should You Sell?

Auto Trader Group plc (LON:AUTO)’s stock price dropped 8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as GBX 448.70 and last traded at GBX 456.50. Approximately 33,549,816 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 4% from the average daily volume of 32,315,277 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 496.30.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AUTO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a GBX 470 price objective on shares of Auto Trader Group in a research report on Monday, May 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Auto Trader Group from GBX 515 to GBX 445 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Citigroup cut their price objective on Auto Trader Group from GBX 880 to GBX 526 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Auto Trader Group from GBX 850 to GBX 816 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Auto Trader Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of GBX 584.40.

Auto Trader Group Price Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 487.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 546.89. The stock has a market cap of £3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 13.62, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 50.60, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

Auto Trader Group (LON:AUTO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The company reported GBX 34.17 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of £624.30 million for the quarter. Auto Trader Group had a return on equity of 60.53% and a net margin of 47.08%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Auto Trader Group plc will post 32.7973074 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Auto Trader Group

In other news, insider Matt Davies bought 5,532 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 452 per share, with a total value of £25,004.64. Also, insider Amanda James bought 5,477 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 454 per share, for a total transaction of £24,865.58. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Auto Trader Group Company Profile

Autotrader Group plc is the UK’s largest automotive marketplace and a leading digital platform for the automotive industry. Listed on the London Stock Exchange since March 2015, the company is a member of the FTSE 100 Index.

Autotrader’s purpose is Driving Change Together. Responsibly. The company uses advanced data science, artificial intelligence and scalable technology to improve how vehicles are bought and sold, while building stronger partnerships with its customers and the wider automotive ecosystem.