Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Raises Stake in OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR)

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in OPENLANE, Inc. by 18.4% to own 813,406 shares worth approximately $15.68 million.
• In the most recent transactions, executive officers Charles S. Coleman and James P. Coyle sold large amounts of OPENLANE stock, reducing their holdings significantly by 52.58% and 84.08%, respectively.
• OPENLANE reported Q2 earnings with an EPS of $0.33, surpassing estimates, and observed a revenue increase of 11.6% year-over-year.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR - Free Report) by 18.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 813,406 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 126,683 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.76% of OPENLANE worth $15,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KAR. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in OPENLANE by 2.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 531,985 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $10,257,000 after purchasing an additional 13,817 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in OPENLANE during the first quarter worth approximately $1,331,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in OPENLANE during the first quarter worth approximately $936,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in OPENLANE during the first quarter worth approximately $1,242,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in OPENLANE during the first quarter worth approximately $531,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of OPENLANE from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of OPENLANE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of OPENLANE from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Barrington Research lifted their target price on shares of OPENLANE from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP James P. Coyle sold 194,575 shares of OPENLANE stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.94, for a total value of $5,436,425.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 36,851 shares in the company, valued at $1,029,616.94. This trade represents a 84.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles S. Coleman sold 59,289 shares of OPENLANE stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.97, for a total transaction of $1,658,313.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 53,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,495,667.78. This trade represents a 52.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.32% of the company's stock.

OPENLANE Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of OPENLANE stock traded up $0.33 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $28.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 689,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 992,999. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $24.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.93. OPENLANE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.44 and a fifty-two week high of $29.13. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 38.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.40.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The specialty retailer reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.09. OPENLANE had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 11.65%. The firm had revenue of $481.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $453.26 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. OPENLANE's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that OPENLANE, Inc. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.