Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $14.6667.

Several brokerages have weighed in on CARS. BTIG Research upped their price target on Cars.com from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research cut Cars.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Cars.com from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Cars.com from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, B. Riley Financial downgraded shares of Cars.com from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 8th.

Cars.com Price Performance

Cars.com stock opened at $11.31 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.46. The company has a market capitalization of $632.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.30 and a beta of 1.59. Cars.com 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 quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.87.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.03). Cars.com had a net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 18.12%. The firm had revenue of $180.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.16 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cars.com will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cars.com news, CFO Sonia Jain sold 34,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.49, for a total transaction of $322,859.29. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 312,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,968,785.17. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cars.com

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Cars.com by 143.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 531,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,495,000 after buying an additional 313,128 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in shares of Cars.com by 487.0% in the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 160,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,953,000 after acquiring an additional 133,002 shares during the period. Hill Path Capital LP lifted its stake in shares of Cars.com by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hill Path Capital LP now owns 2,481,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,318,000 after acquiring an additional 468,000 shares during the period. Kestrel Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Cars.com in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,752,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Cars.com by 83.3% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 191,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,330,000 after acquiring an additional 86,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.15% of the company’s stock.

About Cars.com

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.