BTIG Research Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Cars.com (NYSE:CARS)

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by research analysts at BTIG Research in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $14.00 price target on the stock. BTIG Research’s price target points to a potential upside of 13.60% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Cars.com from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Cars.com from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. B. Riley Financial lowered shares of Cars.com from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Cars.com from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Cars.com from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cars.com presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.83.

Cars.com Trading Up 5.0%

CARS opened at $12.32 on Thursday. Cars.com has a one year low of $7.40 and a one year high of $13.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $688.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.62 and a beta of 1.60.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.51. Cars.com had a return on equity of 18.82% and a net margin of 4.73%.The firm had revenue of $179.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.53 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Cars.com will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Sonia Jain sold 52,579 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.56, for a total value of $502,655.24. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cars.com

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Cars.com during the second quarter valued at $2,748,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Cars.com by 130.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 36,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 20,811 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Cars.com by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 440,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,579,000 after purchasing an additional 63,234 shares during the last quarter. RBF Capital LLC grew its position in Cars.com by 93.3% during the 1st quarter. RBF Capital LLC now owns 103,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Cars.com by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 211,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,717,000 after purchasing an additional 19,159 shares in the last quarter. 89.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Cars.com News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings quality and profitability: Second-quarter revenue rose approximately 1% year over year to $179.9 million, while net income more than doubled to $14.3 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased 4% to $53.0 million, producing a 29.4% margin that exceeded the company’s 28%-29% target range. Adjusted EPS of $0.51 also surpassed the $0.49 Zacks consensus estimate and increased from $0.41 a year earlier. Cars.com Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Capital returns support the stock: Cars.com repurchased 3.7 million shares for $37 million during the quarter and 6.2 million shares for $57 million year to date, putting it on pace for its $90 million 2026 repurchase goal. The buybacks can support per-share results and signal management’s confidence in the company’s valuation. Cars.com Q2 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains favorable: BTIG Research reaffirmed its “Buy” rating and assigned a $14 price target, implying roughly 14% upside from the referenced $12.32 level. BTIG Reaffirms Buy Rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Guidance was broadly maintained: Full-year revenue guidance remains $723.2 million-$737.7 million, versus a $729.0 million consensus estimate. Third-quarter revenue guidance of $183.9 million-$187.6 million is modestly above the $183.0 million consensus, but the outlook still calls for only flat-to-2% growth. Cars.com Q2 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Platform-exit concerns could pressure growth: A Seeking Alpha analysis argues that consumers and dealers are leaving Cars.com, raising questions about traffic, customer retention and the durability of Marketplace growth. In addition, OEM and National revenue fell 18% year over year, partially offsetting more than 7% growth in Marketplace revenue. Cars.com Consumers and Dealers Analysis

Cars.com Company 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.