Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Shares Down 4.3% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Cars.com shares dropped 4.3% during trading, reaching a low of $11.31, with a notable decline in trading volume of 66% compared to its average.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Cars.com, with Zacks upgrading it to a "strong-buy," while Wall Street Zen downgraded it to "hold," reflecting diverging opinions on the stock's potential.
• During its latest earnings report, Cars.com reported an EPS of $0.41, missing expectations, with a slight year-over-year revenue decline of 0.1% at $178.74 million.

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 4.3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $11.31 and last traded at $11.32. Approximately 269,713 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 790,378 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.83.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CARS. Zacks Research raised Cars.com from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Cars.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Cars.com from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cars.com presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.50.

Cars.com Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $684.44 million, a PE ratio of 17.86 and a beta of 1.76.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Cars.com

In other news, insider Matthew B. Crawford sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.77, for a total value of $176,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 98,461 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,158,885.97. This represents a 13.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.12% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Cars.com

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Cars.com by 624.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,690 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 4,043 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Cars.com by 13.2% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 398,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,485,000 after purchasing an additional 46,562 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in Cars.com by 59.2% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 54,798 shares of the company's stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 20,376 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Cars.com by 663.7% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 91,198 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 79,256 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Cars.com by 157.7% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 151,603 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,709,000 after purchasing an additional 92,780 shares during the period. 89.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cars.com Company Profile

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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