Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Rating Lowered to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on CARS. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Cars.com from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Cars.com from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Cars.com from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group boosted their price target on Cars.com from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.67.

Cars.com Stock Performance

CARS opened at $11.29 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.87. Cars.com has a 52-week low of $7.40 and a 52-week high of $13.97. The firm has a market cap of $631.33 million, a P/E ratio of 26.27 and a beta of 1.59. The business’s fifty day moving average is $10.31 and its 200-day moving average is $10.35.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last posted its quarterly 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). Cars.com had a net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 18.12%. The company had revenue of $180.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.16 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Cars.com will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cars.com news, CFO Sonia Jain sold 34,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.49, for a total value of $322,859.29. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 312,833 shares in the company, valued at $2,968,785.17. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cars.com

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Cars.com by 130.0% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 36,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 20,811 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 16.7% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 440,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,579,000 after purchasing an additional 63,234 shares during the period. RBF Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Cars.com by 93.3% in the first quarter. RBF Capital LLC now owns 103,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Cars.com by 10.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 211,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,717,000 after purchasing an additional 19,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Cars.com during the 1st quarter worth $1,055,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.15% of the company’s stock.

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.