Karooooo (NASDAQ:KARO) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Karooooo Ltd. (NASDAQ:KARO) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $67.14 and last traded at $65.91, with a volume of 239549 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $64.69.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KARO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Karooooo from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Karooooo in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Karooooo from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $74.00 price target on shares of Karooooo in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Karooooo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Karooooo presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.50.

Karooooo Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.46 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $54.48 and a 200 day moving average of $50.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Karooooo (NASDAQ:KARO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $96.26 million during the quarter. Karooooo had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 17.74%. Sell-side analysts predict that Karooooo Ltd. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Karooooo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is an increase from Karooooo’s previous annual dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 17th. This represents a yield of 239.0%. Karooooo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Isaias Jose Calisto sold 20,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.51, for a total value of $1,317,100.67. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 17,773,613 shares in the company, valued at $1,146,575,774.63. The trade was a 0.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 144,345 shares of company stock valued at $9,258,554. Corporate insiders own 74.73% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Karooooo

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of KARO. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd boosted its holdings in Karooooo by 16.9% in the 1st quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd now owns 278,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,873,000 after purchasing an additional 40,268 shares during the period. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Karooooo by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 78,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,566,000 after purchasing an additional 14,600 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Karooooo by 115.4% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 74,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,234,000 after purchasing an additional 39,709 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Karooooo by 699.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 55,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,723,000 after acquiring an additional 48,644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Karooooo by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 46,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,128,000 after purchasing an additional 14,078 shares in the last quarter.

About Karooooo

Karooooo Ltd is a global provider of telematics software-as-a-service solutions for vehicle and fleet management. Through its flagship platform, the company delivers real-time GPS tracking, stolen vehicle recovery and driver behaviour analytics, enabling commercial fleets and automotive insurers to optimise operations, increase safety and reduce costs.

Karooooo’s SaaS platform integrates proprietary hardware devices with cloud-based analytics and mobile applications. Customers gain access to live vehicle location data, engine diagnostics, route planning tools and customizable reporting dashboards.