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

Key Points

• Short interest fell 32.6% to 1,634,426 shares as of March 13, equal to about 1.5% of shares shorted and a days-to-cover of 2.0 based on average volume.
• Street analysts have a consensus rating of "Reduce" (three Holds, one Sell) with an average price target of $28.00.
• Shares traded at $16.90 (near a one-year low of $16.86), with a market cap of ~$1.97B and a P/E of 10.3; last quarter EPS was $0.09 on $208.96M revenue.

Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,634,426 shares, a decline of 32.6% from the February 26th total of 2,423,764 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 830,788 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ATHM. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Autohome during the second quarter valued at $29,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Autohome by 124.4% in the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,333 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 739 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Autohome by 205.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,112 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its stake in shares of Autohome by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 3,271 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Autohome by 30.5% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,886 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.08% of the company's stock.

Autohome Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of Autohome stock traded down $0.39 on Friday, hitting $16.90. The stock had a trading volume of 364,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,294,117. Autohome has a one year low of $16.86 and a one year high of $29.92. The stock has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 0.12. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $20.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.58.

Autohome (NYSE:ATHM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Sunday, February 15th. The information services provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $208.96 million during the quarter. Autohome had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 5.94%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Autohome will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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