Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Analysts

Shares of Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $14.58.

CARS has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Cars.com from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Cars.com from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Cars.com from $13.00 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Cars.com in a report on Thursday, August 6th.

Cars.com Stock Up 1.0%

Cars.com stock opened at $9.89 on Thursday. Cars.com has a twelve month low of $7.40 and a twelve month high of $13.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.00. The firm has a market cap of $529.68 million, a PE ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 1.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $11.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.75.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51. Cars.com had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 18.82%. The business had revenue of $179.93 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.53 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. Cars.com’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Cars.com will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Cars.com

In other Cars.com news, Director Donald McGovern sold 8,000 shares of Cars.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.25, for a total value of $98,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 102,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,260,525. The trade was a 7.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Angelique Marks sold 57,980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.94, for a total transaction of $692,281.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 149,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,786,653.84. The trade was a 27.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cars.com

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CARS. Pale Fire Capital SE increased its position in shares of Cars.com by 498.1% during the 1st quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 3,956,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,128,000 after purchasing an additional 3,295,117 shares in the last quarter. Breach Inlet Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cars.com during the 4th quarter valued at $8,899,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Cars.com by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,401,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,620,000 after purchasing an additional 262,443 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Cars.com by 77.9% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 580,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,711,000 after purchasing an additional 253,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Cars.com in the second quarter worth $2,748,000. Institutional investors own 89.15% of the company’s stock.

Cars.com Company Profile

Cars.com, Inc is a digital automotive marketplace that connects car shoppers with automobile dealers, manufacturers and other industry participants. Through its Cars.com platform, the company enables consumers to research vehicles, compare new and used cars, review pricing and features, read expert and consumer reviews, and connect with dealers about available inventory.

The company provides automotive retailers and manufacturers with digital marketing and technology solutions, including vehicle listings, advertising, inventory merchandising, lead generation, website and digital retailing tools, and customer engagement services.