Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

CVNA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Carvana from $510.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Carvana from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Carvana from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Carvana in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Carvana from $525.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Carvana currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $440.59.

Carvana Stock Up 2.0%

NYSE CVNA traded up $6.35 on Tuesday, hitting $322.61. 1,643,429 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,301,435. The company has a current ratio of 4.31, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $404.04 and a 200-day moving average of $380.66. The company has a market cap of $70.60 billion, a PE ratio of 40.13 and a beta of 3.60. Carvana has a 12 month low of $148.25 and a 12 month high of $486.89.

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported $4.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $3.12. The business had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.24 billion. Carvana had a return on equity of 50.96% and a net margin of 6.92%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 58.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Carvana will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Carvana

In other Carvana news, COO Benjamin E. Huston sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $439.50, for a total value of $17,580,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 100,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,283,141. The trade was a 28.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paul W. Breaux sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $438.50, for a total value of $8,770,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 69,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,383,226.50. This represents a 22.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 300,673 shares of company stock worth $133,268,531 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 17.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Carvana

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVNA. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Carvana in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in Carvana in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Carvana by 8,700.0% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 88 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Carvana during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in shares of Carvana by 112.5% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 85 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.71% of the company’s stock.

About Carvana

Carvana Co is an online-only retailer of used vehicles that operates a consumer-facing e-commerce platform for buying and selling cars. The company markets and sells inspected, reconditioned pre-owned vehicles through its website, where shoppers can browse inventory, view detailed 360-degree photos and vehicle history reports, finance purchases, and arrange delivery or pickup. Carvana’s model is built around a digital end-to-end car buying experience that aims to simplify vehicle transactions compared with traditional dealerships.

Its products and services include direct retail sales of used cars, trade-in and purchase offers for consumer vehicles, vehicle financing and related protection products, and a seven-day return policy that allows customers to test a vehicle in everyday use.