Cerity Partners LLC Buys Shares of 27,526 OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR)

Key Points

• Cerity Partners LLC purchased 27,526 shares of OPENLANE, Inc. for approximately $531,000, marking a significant new investment in the specialty retailer.
• OPENLANE reported a quarterly EPS of $0.31, surpassing the consensus estimate by $0.07, and generated revenue of $460.10 million, indicating a 7.0% increase compared to the previous year.
• Bank of America raised its price target for OPENLANE from $22.00 to $25.00, maintaining a "neutral" rating, while several analysts continue to rate the stock as a "Moderate Buy."

Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 27,526 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $531,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KAR. Brown Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of OPENLANE in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,941,000. TFJ Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of OPENLANE in the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,465,000. Advisory Research Inc. purchased a new position in shares of OPENLANE in the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,761,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of OPENLANE by 148.1% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 805,461 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $15,980,000 after acquiring an additional 480,804 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of OPENLANE in the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,007,000. 99.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

OPENLANE Price Performance

KAR traded up $0.07 on Friday, reaching $24.85. 655,129 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,052,569. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $23.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.43. OPENLANE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.44 and a 52-week high of $26.03. The company has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.41.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty retailer reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.07. OPENLANE had a net margin of 7.15% and a return on equity of 10.38%. The firm had revenue of $460.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that OPENLANE, Inc. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of OPENLANE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of OPENLANE from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, OPENLANE presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.00.

Insider Transactions at OPENLANE

In other OPENLANE news, EVP James P. Coyle sold 7,000 shares of OPENLANE stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.72, for a total value of $152,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,511 shares in the company, valued at $793,018.92. The trade was a 16.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

OPENLANE Company Profile

OPENLANE, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital marketplace for used vehicles, which connects sellers and buyers in North America, Europe, the Philippines, and Uruguay. The company operates through two segments, Marketplace and Finance. The Marketplace segment offers digital marketplace services for buying and selling used vehicles.