Brokerages Set Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) Target Price at $16.08

Shares of Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $16.0833.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 target price (down from $16.00) on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Cars.com from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Cars.com from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. BTIG Research lowered their price target on Cars.com from $17.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cars.com

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Cars.com by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Cars.com by 30.0% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 1,623 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Cars.com by 436.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 6,475 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cars.com during the 3rd quarter worth about $100,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Cars.com in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $115,000. Institutional investors own 89.15% of the company’s stock.

Cars.com Stock Performance

NYSE:CARS opened at $8.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a 50-day moving average of $10.15 and a 200-day moving average of $11.32. Cars.com has a twelve month low of $7.40 and a twelve month high of $13.97. The firm has a market cap of $494.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.36 and a beta of 1.50.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $183.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.44 million. Cars.com had a net margin of 2.77% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Cars.com will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.