Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) Reaches New 1-Year Low - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Copart's stock reached a new 52-week low of $45.05 amid trading, with a current price of $45.18 and a trading volume of over 2 million shares.
• Despite challenging market conditions, Copart reported $0.41 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, and achieved a 2.9% year-over-year revenue increase.
• Analysts have a mixed outlook for Copart, with a Moderate Buy rating and target prices ranging from $46.00 to $62.00.

Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $45.05 and last traded at $45.18, with a volume of 2053588 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $45.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CPRT. Hsbc Global Res raised Copart from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Copart from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. HSBC set a $62.00 price target on shares of Copart and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Copart from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Copart presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $54.50.

Copart Stock Down 0.3%

The company has a market capitalization of $43.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.28 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.12.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 4th. The business services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 18.17% and a net margin of 33.41%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Copart

In other news, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 228,840 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.54, for a total value of $10,879,053.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,088 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.43, for a total transaction of $1,118,405.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 31,527 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,463,798.61. This trade represents a 43.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CPRT. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Copart in the second quarter valued at $549,448,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Copart in the 1st quarter valued at about $267,723,000. Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in shares of Copart by 75.3% during the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 7,000,430 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $343,511,000 after purchasing an additional 3,007,820 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Copart by 75.2% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,579,404 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $322,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,824,991 shares during the period. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Copart by 56.4% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,407,471 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $314,415,000 after purchasing an additional 2,310,067 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.78% of the company's stock.

Copart Company Profile

Copart, Inc provides online auctions and vehicle remarketing services. It offers a range of services for processing and selling vehicles over the Internet through its Virtual Bidding Third Generation Internet auction-style sales technology on behalf of vehicle sellers, insurance companies, banks and finance companies, charities, and fleet operators and dealers, as well as individual owners.

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