Autohome (NYSE:ATHM) Rating Lowered to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Autohome (NYSE:ATHM) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

ATHM has been the topic of several other research reports. HSBC downgraded shares of Autohome from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $17.30 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Autohome from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Autohome from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Autohome in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Autohome from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $17.15.

Autohome Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE ATHM opened at $17.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.23. Autohome has a 12-month low of $15.57 and a 12-month high of $29.92. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.27.

Autohome (NYSE:ATHM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. On average, equities analysts predict that Autohome will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Autohome

In related news, CTO Bibo Xiang sold 10,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.35, for a total transaction of $45,709.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 62,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $271,300.80. This trade represents a 14.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Yan Zeng sold 24,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.35, for a total transaction of $105,705.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 169,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $739,239. This represents a 12.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Company 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. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Autohome by 12.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,968,365 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $227,497,000 after purchasing an additional 868,151 shares during the period. FIL Ltd boosted its position in Autohome by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,308,693 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $95,912,000 after purchasing an additional 20,228 shares during the period. M&G PLC boosted its position in Autohome by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. M&G PLC now owns 3,420,121 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $75,243,000 after purchasing an additional 413,287 shares during the period. Krane Funds Advisors LLC boosted its position in Autohome by 25.0% during the third quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 3,387,052 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $93,178,000 after purchasing an additional 678,214 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Autohome by 86.9% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,852,839 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $63,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326,281 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.08% of the company’s stock.

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.