Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts rate Cars.com “Hold” overall: Five of eight analysts recommend holding the stock, while three recommend buying it. The average 12-month price target is $14.83 versus a recent price of $11.59.
• Cars.com matched quarterly earnings expectations at $0.51 EPS, while revenue of $179.93 million fell slightly short of estimates but increased 0.7% year over year.
• Insiders recently sold shares: an insider and a director sold a combined 65,980 shares, while institutional investors own 89.15% of the company.

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $14.8333.

CARS has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Cars.com from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Cars.com from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Cars.com from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Cars.com in a report on Thursday, August 6th.

Cars.com Stock Performance

NYSE:CARS opened at $11.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $620.36 million, a P/E ratio of 20.33 and a beta of 1.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 2.00. Cars.com has a 1 year low of $7.40 and a 1 year high of $13.85.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.51. Cars.com had a return on equity of 18.82% and a net margin of 4.73%.The company had revenue of $179.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.53 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Cars.com will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cars.com news, insider Angelique Marks sold 57,980 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.94, for a total transaction of $692,281.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 149,636 shares in the company, valued at $1,786,653.84. This represents a 27.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Donald McGovern sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.25, for a total value of $98,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 102,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,260,525. The trade was a 7.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 3.36% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Cars.com

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CARS. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Cars.com during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Cars.com by 30.0% in the second 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. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Cars.com by 436.0% in the second 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. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Cars.com in the third quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Cars.com during the second quarter valued at approximately $115,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.15% of the company's stock.

Cars.com Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.