Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Key Points

• Autohome experienced a 31.5% drop in short interest to 1,118,866 shares as of March 31, leaving a days-to-cover ratio of 1.4 and roughly 1.0% of shares shorted.
• Analysts carry a consensus “Reduce” rating with an average price target of $28.00 after three Holds and one Sell, and Zacks recently downgraded the stock to a "strong sell."
• The stock opened at $17.86 (market cap ~$2.09B, P/E 10.89) and shows significant institutional interest (about 63% ownership) as funds like Federated Hermes, Invesco, Krane, Norges Bank and UBS AM added or initiated positions.

Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,118,866 shares, a drop of 31.5% from the March 15th total of 1,634,426 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 825,950 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATHM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Autohome in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Autohome in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Autohome from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $28.00.

Autohome Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE ATHM opened at $17.86 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.64. Autohome has a 1-year low of $16.74 and a 1-year high of $29.92. The firm has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 0.20.

Autohome (NYSE:ATHM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Sunday, February 15th. The information services provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter. Autohome had a return on equity of 5.94% and a net margin of 21.43%.The business had revenue of $208.96 million during the quarter. Analysts forecast that Autohome will post 1.84 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Autohome

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ATHM. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Autohome by 86.9% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,852,839 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $63,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326,281 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Autohome by 12.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,968,365 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $227,497,000 after acquiring an additional 868,151 shares during the period. Krane Funds Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Autohome by 25.0% in the third quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 3,387,052 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $93,178,000 after acquiring an additional 678,214 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Autohome in the fourth quarter worth $14,167,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new position in shares of Autohome in the fourth quarter worth $10,937,000. 63.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Autohome Company Profile

Autohome Inc NYSE: ATHM operates one of China’s leading online destinations for automobile consumers, offering a comprehensive suite of digital platforms and services throughout the vehicle ownership lifecycle. Headquartered in Beijing, the company’s core website and mobile applications deliver news, reviews, pricing information, photos, videos and interactive tools to help prospective buyers evaluate new and used vehicles. By aggregating rich editorial content with user-generated ratings and expert analyses, Autohome seeks to guide consumers through research, purchase and after-sales decision-making.

In addition to its consumer-facing properties, Autohome provides automakers, dealers and service providers with integrated digital marketing and e-commerce solutions.

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