Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $9.09, but opened at $9.55. Cars.com shares last traded at $9.63, with a volume of 99,803 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on CARS. Weiss Ratings downgraded Cars.com from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Zacks Research downgraded Cars.com from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 target price (down from $16.00) on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Friday, February 27th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.08.

Cars.com Stock Up 7.3%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $9.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.91. The company has a market capitalization of $572.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.49 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $183.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.44 million. Cars.com had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 2.77%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CARS. Hill Path Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Cars.com during the second quarter valued at $23,854,000. Par Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cars.com during the second quarter valued at $14,220,000. Breach Inlet Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cars.com during the fourth quarter valued at $8,899,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 112.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,127,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,751,000 after buying an additional 595,609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cars.com during the second quarter valued at $3,776,000. Hedge funds and other 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.