Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Hold”

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

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on CARS. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Cars.com from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on shares of Cars.com from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 6th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Cars.com from $13.00 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Cars.com from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.25.

Cars.com Price Performance

Shares of CARS stock opened at $13.37 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.61. The company has a market cap of $696.05 million, a P/E ratio of 17.82 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Cars.com has a twelve month low of $7.40 and a twelve month high of $14.02.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $181.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.05 million. Cars.com had a return on equity of 19.86% and a net margin of 5.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cars.com will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Cars.com

In other Cars.com news, insider Angelique Marks sold 57,980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.94, for a total value of $692,281.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 149,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,786,653.84. This represents a 27.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Donald McGovern sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.25, for a total value of $98,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 102,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,260,525. This represents a 7.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cars.com

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pale Fire Capital SE grew its holdings in Cars.com by 498.1% during the 1st quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 3,956,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,128,000 after acquiring an additional 3,295,117 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Cars.com by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,401,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,620,000 after acquiring an additional 262,443 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Cars.com by 77.9% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 580,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,711,000 after acquiring an additional 253,991 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Cars.com in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,748,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Cars.com during the third quarter valued at $1,392,000. 89.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cars.com Company Profile

Cars.com Inc. operates a digital automotive marketplace that connects people shopping for new and used vehicles with dealerships. Its Cars.com platform provides vehicle listings, research tools, reviews and information to help consumers compare cars and find local sellers. The company also offers products and services for automotive dealers, including digital marketing, website development, inventory and customer-management tools, and vehicle appraisal solutions. Its brands include Dealer Inspire, DealerRater and AccuTrade.