Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases 63,234 Shares of Cars.com Inc. $CARS

Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) by 16.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 440,809 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 63,234 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned 0.79% of Cars.com worth $3,579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pale Fire Capital SE raised its position in shares of Cars.com by 498.1% in the first quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 3,956,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,128,000 after buying an additional 3,295,117 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Cars.com by 8.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,401,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,620,000 after buying an additional 262,443 shares in the last quarter. Par Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Cars.com by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Par Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,697,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,911,000 after acquiring an additional 639,000 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Cars.com by 112.1% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,127,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,751,000 after acquiring an additional 595,609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,057,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,920,000 after acquiring an additional 198,077 shares in the last quarter. 89.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CARS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded Cars.com from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Thursday. B. Riley Financial downgraded shares of Cars.com from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Cars.com from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cars.com news, CFO Sonia Jain sold 52,579 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.56, for a total value of $502,655.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 346,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,315,924.24. The trade was a 13.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Cars.com

Here are the key news stories impacting Cars.com this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Profitability exceeded expectations: Second-quarter adjusted EBITDA rose 4% year over year to $53.0 million, with a 29.4% margin that topped the company’s 28%–29% target range. Net income more than doubled to $14.3 million, while EPS increased to $0.51 from $0.41 a year earlier. Cars.com Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Marketplace momentum and capital returns supported the outlook: Marketplace revenue grew more than 7%, its strongest growth in five years. Cars.com also repurchased 3.7 million shares for $37 million during the quarter and remains on pace for its $90 million 2026 buyback target. Cars.com Q2 Revenue and Net Income Report
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remained favorable: BTIG reaffirmed its “Buy” rating and set a $14 price target, implying meaningful upside from the recent trading level. BTIG Rating Reported by Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: Revenue performance was mixed: Quarterly revenue rose just 1% to $179.9 million, broadly in line with company guidance but slightly below one consensus estimate. EPS of $0.51 met the primary consensus estimate and exceeded the Zacks estimate of $0.49. Cars.com Beats Q2 Earnings Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Advertising-related weakness remains a concern: Dealer revenue increased 3%, but OEM and National revenue fell 18% to $13.6 million, limiting overall growth and potentially explaining the negative investor reaction.
• Neutral Sentiment: Guidance was steady to modestly constructive: Full-year revenue guidance of $723.2 million–$737.7 million brackets the $729 million consensus estimate, while third-quarter guidance of $183.9 million–$187.6 million is slightly above consensus. Cars.com Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Cars.com Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of CARS opened at $11.79 on Friday. Cars.com Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.40 and a 1 year high of $13.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.31. The firm has a market cap of $659.12 million, a P/E ratio of 27.42 and a beta of 1.60.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.51. Cars.com had a net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 18.12%. The firm had revenue of $179.93 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.53 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cars.com 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.