Autohome (NYSE:ATHM) Price Target Cut to $17.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan cut Autohome’s price target from $20.00 to $17.00 while keeping a neutral rating, implying about 6.75% downside from the previous close.
• Other analysts have turned more cautious as well, with several downgrades and a current consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $17.15.
• Autohome shares were trading at $18.23 in the report, above the revised target, while the company recently posted $0.09 EPS on $208.96 million in revenue for the quarter.

Autohome (NYSE:ATHM - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $20.00 to $17.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the information services provider's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s target price would indicate a potential downside of 6.75% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Autohome from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Autohome from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. HSBC cut shares of Autohome from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $17.30 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Autohome from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Autohome in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Autohome has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $17.15.

Autohome Price Performance

Shares of ATHM traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $18.23. 185,685 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 667,060. Autohome has a fifty-two week low of $15.57 and a fifty-two week high of $29.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $17.88 and a 200-day moving average of $20.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.92 and a beta of 0.23.

Autohome (NYSE:ATHM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Sunday, February 15th. The information services provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $208.96 million during the quarter. Autohome had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 5.01%. As a group, analysts forecast that Autohome will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Autohome

In other news, CFO Yan Zeng sold 24,300 shares of Autohome stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.35, for a total transaction of $105,705.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 169,940 shares in the company, valued at $739,239. This trade represents a 12.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CTO Bibo Xiang sold 10,508 shares of Autohome stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.35, for a total transaction of $45,709.80. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 62,368 shares of the company's stock, valued at $271,300.80. This represents a 14.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 5.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Autohome by 12.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,968,365 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $227,497,000 after purchasing an additional 868,151 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in Autohome by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,308,693 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $95,912,000 after purchasing an additional 20,228 shares during the last quarter. M&G PLC boosted its holdings in Autohome by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. M&G PLC now owns 3,420,121 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $75,243,000 after purchasing an additional 413,287 shares during the last quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Autohome by 25.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 678,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted 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 worth $63,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326,281 shares during the last quarter. 63.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Autohome

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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