Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Shares gapped up premarket, opening at $9.55 after a $9.09 close and last trading around $9.63 (up about 6.8%) on roughly 99,803 shares exchanged.
• The analyst picture is mixed with a consensus rating of Hold and a $16.08 price target; four analysts rate Buy, two Hold and two Sell, with notable calls including Barrington's "outperform" ($25 target) and Weiss Ratings' downgrade to Sell.
• Fundamentals show a recent quarterly EPS of $0.44 (missing the $0.56 estimate) and revenue of $183.9M (roughly in line, +1.9% YoY); market cap is about $569M, P/E ~30.3, and institutional holders/hedge funds own roughly 89% of shares.

Shares of Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $9.09, but opened at $9.55. Cars.com shares last traded at $9.63, with a volume of 99,803 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CARS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Cars.com from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Cars.com from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a report on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Cars.com from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cars.com currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $16.08.

Cars.com Trading Up 6.8%

The company has a market cap of $569.39 million, a P/E ratio of 30.28 and a beta of 1.46. The stock's 50 day moving average is $9.33 and its 200-day moving average is $10.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $183.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $183.44 million. Cars.com had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 2.77%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cars.com

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Cars.com by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,898 shares of the company's stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 1,279 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Cars.com by 30.0% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,025 shares of the company's stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 1,623 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Cars.com by 436.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,960 shares of the company's stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 6,475 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Cars.com in the 3rd quarter worth about $100,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Cars.com in the 2nd quarter worth about $115,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.15% of the company's stock.

About Cars.com

Cars.com operates as a leading online automotive marketplace in the United States, connecting car shoppers with new and used vehicle listings from dealerships and private sellers. The platform enables consumers to research makes and models, compare prices, read expert and user reviews, and access tools such as TrueCost to estimate ownership expenses over time. Through its website and mobile applications, Cars.com aims to simplify the car-buying process by aggregating detailed vehicle data, payment calculators, and dealership ratings into a single user-friendly experience.

On the dealer side, Cars.com provides a suite of marketing and lead-generation services designed to help automotive retailers reach potential buyers and manage their online presence.

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