Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Lowered to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Cars.com has been downgraded by Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" to a "hold" rating, reflecting a shift in analyst sentiment towards the stock.
• Despite the downgrade, Cars.com has received mixed ratings from analysts, with some firms maintaining "buy" ratings while setting price targets ranging from $14.00 to $25.00.
• The company's recent earnings report showed a miss on EPS estimates, with reported earnings of $0.41 per share, falling short of the $0.45 consensus estimate.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Cars.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Cars.com from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $14.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Wednesday. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $22.00 price target (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.50.

Cars.com Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of Cars.com stock traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $10.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 43,623 shares, compared to its average volume of 793,363. Cars.com has a 12 month low of $9.56 and a 12 month high of $20.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $12.79 and a 200 day moving average of $11.92. The company has a market capitalization of $667.85 million, a PE ratio of 17.54 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $178.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $179.43 million. Cars.com had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 5.71%.The firm's revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Cars.com will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Cars.com

In related news, insider Matthew B. Crawford sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.77, for a total value of $176,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 98,461 shares in the company, valued at $1,158,885.97. The trade was a 13.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cars.com

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Cars.com by 119.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,227 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 2,305 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Cars.com by 624.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,690 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 4,043 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cars.com by 22.9% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,425 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Cars.com by 30.0% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,025 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,623 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Cars.com by 436.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,960 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 6,475 shares during the period. 89.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Cars.com

Cars.com Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a digital automotive marketplace that connects local car dealers to consumers in the United States. The company offers a suite of digital solutions that creates connections between individuals researching cars or looking to purchase a car with car dealerships and automotive original equipment manufacturers.

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