Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) Stock

Key Points

• Barclays raised its CarGurus price target from $38 to $41 and maintained an “overweight” rating, implying 23.19% upside from the stock’s current price.
• Analyst views are mixed but lean positive: CarGurus has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $40.05.
• In its latest quarter, CarGurus reported EPS of $0.70, beating estimates of $0.66, while revenue rose 8.2% year over year to $258.37 million.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Barclays from $38.00 to $41.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Barclays's price objective indicates a potential upside of 23.19% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings cut CarGurus from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on CarGurus from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. BTIG Research upped their target price on CarGurus from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on CarGurus from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on CarGurus from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CarGurus has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $40.05.

CarGurus Price Performance

CARG stock traded down $0.46 during trading on Monday, reaching $33.28. 117,587 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,277,356. The company has a 50-day moving average of $32.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.85. The company has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.22. CarGurus has a twelve month low of $26.39 and a twelve month high of $41.22.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.04. CarGurus had a net margin of 18.51% and a return on equity of 68.43%. The business had revenue of $258.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.46 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that CarGurus will post 2.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at CarGurus

In related news, insider Ismail Elshareef sold 2,673 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.62, for a total value of $79,174.26. Following the sale, the insider owned 127,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,789,375.46. The trade was a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Greg Schwartz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.07, for a total value of $360,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at $314,386.12. The trade was a 53.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 82,846 shares of company stock valued at $2,803,095 in the last quarter. Insiders own 18.19% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of CarGurus

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in CarGurus in the 2nd quarter valued at about $15,631,000. Pale Fire Capital SE purchased a new stake in CarGurus during the second quarter valued at about $13,112,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in CarGurus by 180.8% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 445,868 shares of the company's stock worth $15,182,000 after purchasing an additional 287,067 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in CarGurus by 159.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 351,886 shares of the company's stock worth $10,965,000 after purchasing an additional 216,304 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in CarGurus by 18.2% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,085,061 shares of the company's stock worth $36,945,000 after purchasing an additional 166,954 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company's stock.

CarGurus Company Profile

CarGurus, Inc operates an online automotive marketplace that helps consumers research and compare vehicles and connect with dealerships. Its website and mobile apps feature new and used vehicle listings, search tools, vehicle information and pricing insights designed to help shoppers evaluate available cars.

The company also provides dealerships with products and services to market inventory and engage with potential buyers through its platform. CarGurus was founded in 2006 by Langley Steinert, who previously co-founded TripAdvisor, and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

CarGurus serves customers and dealerships in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

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