Boston Partners Decreases Stock Position in Cars.com Inc. $CARS

Key Points

• Boston Partners significantly reduced its stake in Cars.com Inc. by 66.7%, selling over 2 million shares, and now holds 1.67% of the company valued at approximately $11.9 million.
• Cars.com recently reported a missed EPS estimate with earnings of $0.41 per share against a consensus of $0.45, and a revenue of $178.74 million compared to expectations of $179.43 million.
• Analysts have mixed views on Cars.com, with ratings ranging from a "buy" with a $22.00 target from B. Riley to a "neutral" with a $11.00 target from UBS Group.

Boston Partners lessened its position in shares of Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS - Free Report) by 66.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,059,375 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,119,051 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned 1.67% of Cars.com worth $11,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CARS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Cars.com by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 236,850 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,105,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in Cars.com by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 39,423 shares of the company's stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 8,237 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cars.com by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 351,438 shares of the company's stock worth $6,090,000 after buying an additional 51,933 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cars.com in the fourth quarter worth about $226,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cars.com by 813.0% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,109 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 1,878 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.15% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CARS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cars.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Cars.com from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $14.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their target price on Cars.com from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and issued a $22.00 target price (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $17.30.

Insider Activity at Cars.com

In other news, insider Matthew B. Crawford sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.77, for a total value of $176,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 98,461 shares in the company, valued at $1,158,885.97. The trade was a 13.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cars.com Price Performance

CARS traded up $0.3110 during trading on Thursday, hitting $12.3610. The company's stock had a trading volume of 98,583 shares, compared to its average volume of 798,891. The firm has a market capitalization of $759.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.94 and a beta of 1.76. Cars.com Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.56 and a twelve month high of $20.47. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $12.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $178.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $179.43 million. Cars.com had a net margin of 5.71% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cars.com Profile

Cars.com Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a digital automotive marketplace that connects local car dealers to consumers in the United States. The company offers a suite of digital solutions that creates connections between individuals researching cars or looking to purchase a car with car dealerships and automotive original equipment manufacturers.