Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 333,697 Shares of Cars.com Inc. $CARS

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital cut its Cars.com stake by 88.4%, selling 333,697 shares and retaining 43,730 shares valued at approximately $355,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds still own about 89.15% of the company.
• Cars.com reported second-quarter revenue of $179.9 million and adjusted EPS of $0.51, while net income more than doubled year over year. The company also repurchased 3.7 million shares during the quarter and maintained its full-year revenue guidance.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Cars.com has a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $14.83, while concerns include flat-to-low growth guidance and an 18% decline in OEM and National revenue despite Marketplace growth.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership trimmed its stake in Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS - Free Report) by 88.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,730 shares of the company's stock after selling 333,697 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 0.08% of Cars.com worth $355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CARS. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,623 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Cars.com by 436.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,960 shares of the company's stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 6,475 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Cars.com during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $100,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Cars.com during the 2nd quarter valued at $115,000. Finally, AXA S.A. acquired a new stake in Cars.com during the 2nd quarter valued at $126,000. 89.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CARS shares. B. Riley Financial downgraded shares of Cars.com from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $13.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Cars.com from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Zacks Research cut shares of Cars.com from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Cars.com from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Cars.com in a report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cars.com currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $14.83.

Cars.com News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Cars.com this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings quality and profitability: Second-quarter revenue rose approximately 1% year over year to $179.9 million, while net income more than doubled to $14.3 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased 4% to $53.0 million, producing a 29.4% margin that exceeded the company’s 28%-29% target range. Adjusted EPS of $0.51 also surpassed the $0.49 Zacks consensus estimate and increased from $0.41 a year earlier. Cars.com Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Capital returns support the stock: Cars.com repurchased 3.7 million shares for $37 million during the quarter and 6.2 million shares for $57 million year to date, putting it on pace for its $90 million 2026 repurchase goal. The buybacks can support per-share results and signal management’s confidence in the company’s valuation. Cars.com Q2 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains favorable: BTIG Research reaffirmed its “Buy” rating and assigned a $14 price target, implying roughly 14% upside from the referenced $12.32 level. BTIG Reaffirms Buy Rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Guidance was broadly maintained: Full-year revenue guidance remains $723.2 million-$737.7 million, versus a $729.0 million consensus estimate. Third-quarter revenue guidance of $183.9 million-$187.6 million is modestly above the $183.0 million consensus, but the outlook still calls for only flat-to-2% growth. Cars.com Q2 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Platform-exit concerns could pressure growth: A Seeking Alpha analysis argues that consumers and dealers are leaving Cars.com, raising questions about traffic, customer retention and the durability of Marketplace growth. In addition, OEM and National revenue fell 18% year over year, partially offsetting more than 7% growth in Marketplace revenue. Cars.com Consumers and Dealers Analysis

Cars.com Stock Performance

Shares of CARS opened at $12.32 on Friday. Cars.com Inc. has a 12 month low of $7.40 and a 12 month high of $13.97. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $688.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.62 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.51. Cars.com had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 18.82%. The firm had revenue of $179.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.53 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. The company's revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cars.com

In other news, CFO Sonia Jain sold 34,021 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.49, for a total value of $322,859.29. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 312,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,968,785.17. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.36% 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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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.

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