Autohome (NYSE:ATHM) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Autohome (NYSE:ATHM) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on ATHM. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $26.50 price target on shares of Autohome in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Autohome from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Autohome from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Autohome from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $19.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Autohome presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.95.

Autohome Trading Down 0.4%

ATHM stock opened at $21.58 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $21.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.02. Autohome has a 1-year low of $15.57 and a 1-year high of $25.22. The firm has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.34 and a beta of 0.36.

Autohome (NYSE:ATHM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The information services provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.07. Autohome had a return on equity of 4.07% and a net margin of 14.23%. The company had revenue of $196.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Autohome will post 1.20 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Bibo Xiang sold 5,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.29, for a total value of $29,560.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 56,780 shares in the company, valued at $300,366.20. This trade represents a 8.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Craig Yan Zeng sold 9,316 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.29, for a total value of $49,281.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 160,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $849,700.96. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 49,304 shares of company stock worth $260,818 in the last three months. Company insiders own 5.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Autohome

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Autohome during the third quarter valued at approximately $12,420,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Autohome during the second quarter worth approximately $5,293,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Autohome by 19.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 370,108 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,424,000 after purchasing an additional 60,511 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Autohome in the 1st quarter worth $2,418,000. Finally, ABN Amro Investment Solutions lifted its holdings in shares of Autohome by 47.6% in the 1st quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 308,171 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,353,000 after purchasing an additional 99,422 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.08% of the company’s stock.

Autohome Company Profile

Autohome Inc. operates online platforms focused on the automotive market in China. Through its websites and mobile applications, the company connects consumers with vehicle information and automotive businesses. Its platforms provide car reviews, news, model specifications, pricing information, photos, videos and user discussions. Autohome also offers automakers and dealers advertising, marketing, customer-lead generation and data services. Founded in 2005, Autohome serves consumers and automotive businesses across China.