Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) Receives $14.83 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $14.8333.

Several research analysts have recently commented on CARS shares. Zacks Research raised Cars.com from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Cars.com from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Cars.com from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. B. Riley Financial downgraded shares of Cars.com from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Cars.com from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th.

Insider Activity at Cars.com

In other Cars.com news, insider Angelique Strong Marks sold 57,980 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.94, for a total value of $692,281.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 149,636 shares in the company, valued at $1,786,653.84. This trade represents a 27.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Sonia Jain sold 52,579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.56, for a total transaction of $502,655.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 346,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,315,924.24. This trade represents a 13.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 144,580 shares of company stock valued at $1,517,796. 3.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cars.com

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CARS. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Cars.com in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Cars.com by 30.0% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 1,623 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Cars.com by 436.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 6,475 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Cars.com in the third quarter valued at about $100,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Cars.com in the second quarter worth about $115,000. 89.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cars.com Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CARS opened at $12.22 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $11.44 and a 200 day moving average of $10.34. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $654.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.44 and a beta of 1.60. Cars.com has a 52 week low of $7.40 and a 52 week high of $13.97.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last announced 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 business had revenue of $179.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.53 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cars.com will post 1.61 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.