Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings 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 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $17.90.

Several brokerages have issued reports on CARS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Cars.com from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $13.50 price objective on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Cars.com in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cars.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Cars.com from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th.

Cars.com Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of Cars.com stock opened at $11.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The stock has a market cap of $668.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.30 and a beta of 1.46. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $12.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.14. Cars.com has a 1 year low of $9.56 and a 1 year high of $18.03.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $181.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $181.37 million. Cars.com had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 4.16%.Cars.com’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Cars.com will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cars.com

In related news, insider Matthew B. Crawford sold 27,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.03, for a total transaction of $329,116.74. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 71,103 shares in the company, valued at $855,369.09. The trade was a 27.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Sonia Jain sold 11,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.45, for a total value of $153,330.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 243,642 shares in the company, valued at $3,276,984.90. This represents a 4.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cars.com

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC increased its stake in Cars.com by 119.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 2,305 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 27.7% during 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 last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Cars.com by 30.0% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,623 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Cars.com by 436.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 6,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Cars.com during the 3rd quarter worth about $100,000. 89.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.