Ieq Capital LLC Takes Position in OPENLANE, Inc. $KAR

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC purchased 17,948 shares of OPENLANE, Inc. for approximately $346,000 in the first quarter, as reported in a recent SEC filing.
• OPENLANE's quarterly earnings beat expectations, reporting $0.33 EPS and generating revenue of $481.7 million, an increase of 11.6% year-over-year.
• Several financial analysts have upgraded OPENLANE's stock ratings, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.50.

Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 17,948 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $346,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of OPENLANE in the 1st quarter valued at about $51,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of OPENLANE by 29.0% in the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,270 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of OPENLANE by 19.8% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,575 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in shares of OPENLANE in the 1st quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of OPENLANE by 34.5% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at OPENLANE

In other news, EVP Charles S. Coleman sold 59,289 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.97, for a total value of $1,658,313.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 53,474 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,495,667.78. This represents a 52.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James P. Coyle sold 194,575 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,851 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,029,616.94. This represents a 84.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.51% of the company's stock.

OPENLANE Stock Up 1.1%

KAR stock traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $29.64. 890,992 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 709,906. OPENLANE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.44 and a twelve month high of $30.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.38.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on OPENLANE from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Barrington Research increased their price objective on OPENLANE from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on OPENLANE from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on OPENLANE from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $28.75.

About OPENLANE

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.