Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $17.90.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CARS shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Cars.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on Cars.com from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Cars.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th.

Cars.com Stock Performance

CARS stock opened at $10.60 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $650.96 million, a PE ratio of 17.09 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Cars.com has a 12-month low of $9.56 and a 12-month high of $20.47. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.84.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $178.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $179.43 million. Cars.com had a net margin of 5.71% and a return on equity of 17.43%. Cars.com’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cars.com will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cars.com news, insider Matthew B. Crawford sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.77, for a total value of $176,550.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 98,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,158,885.97. This trade represents a 13.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cars.com

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hill Path Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cars.com during the second quarter worth $23,854,000. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cars.com during the second quarter worth approximately $16,456,000. Par Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cars.com in the second quarter valued at about $14,220,000. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Cars.com during the second quarter worth about $5,210,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Cars.com by 89.0% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 859,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,182,000 after buying an additional 404,603 shares during the last quarter. 89.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cars.com Company Profile

Cars.com Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a digital automotive marketplace that connects local car dealers to consumers in the United States. The company offers a suite of digital solutions that creates connections between individuals researching cars or looking to purchase a car with car dealerships and automotive original equipment manufacturers.