Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and three have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $17.15.

ATHM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Autohome in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Autohome from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Autohome from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Autohome from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Autohome from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd.

Autohome Stock Performance

ATHM stock opened at $17.60 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $17.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.21. Autohome has a fifty-two week low of $15.57 and a fifty-two week high of $29.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 0.23.

Autohome (NYSE:ATHM) last released its earnings results on Sunday, February 15th. The information services provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter. Autohome had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 5.01%. The firm had revenue of $208.96 million for the quarter. Equities analysts forecast that Autohome will post 1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Autohome Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. Autohome’s dividend payout ratio is 133.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Yan Zeng sold 24,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.35, for a total value of $105,705.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 169,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $739,239. This represents a 12.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CTO Bibo Xiang sold 10,508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.35, for a total value of $45,709.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 62,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $271,300.80. This trade represents a 14.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Corporate insiders own 5.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Autohome

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Autohome by 5.0% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD boosted its holdings in Autohome by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 5,714 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its holdings in Autohome by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 3,271 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in Autohome by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 11,101 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Autohome by 30.5% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,886 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. 63.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Autohome Company Profile

Autohome Inc (NYSE: ATHM) operates one of China’s leading online destinations for automobile consumers, offering a comprehensive suite of digital platforms and services throughout the vehicle ownership lifecycle. Headquartered in Beijing, the company’s core website and mobile applications deliver news, reviews, pricing information, photos, videos and interactive tools to help prospective buyers evaluate new and used vehicles. By aggregating rich editorial content with user-generated ratings and expert analyses, Autohome seeks to guide consumers through research, purchase and after-sales decision-making.

In addition to its consumer-facing properties, Autohome provides automakers, dealers and service providers with integrated digital marketing and e-commerce solutions.