Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Trading Down 4% – What’s Next?

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS)’s share price was down 4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $12.93 and last traded at $12.9550. Approximately 210,346 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 813,050 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on CARS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Cars.com from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Cars.com from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Cars.com in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cars.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Cars.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.70.

Cars.com Trading Down 5.2%

The company has a market cap of $765.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.83 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $11.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.02). Cars.com had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 4.16%.The company had revenue of $181.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $181.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. Cars.com’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Cars.com

In other news, insider Matthew B. Crawford sold 27,358 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.03, for a total transaction of $329,116.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 71,103 shares in the company, valued at $855,369.09. This represents a 27.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cars.com

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CARS. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Cars.com by 119.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 2,305 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Cars.com by 22.9% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Cars.com by 27.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 1,279 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 30.0% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 436.0% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.15% of the company’s stock.

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.