Lazard Asset Management LLC Buys Shares of 20,360 Karooooo Ltd. $KARO

Key Points

• Lazard Asset Management initiated a Karooooo position by purchasing 20,360 shares valued at approximately $1.015 million, representing about 0.07% of the company.
• Karooooo reported quarterly EPS of $0.59, exceeding estimates of $0.51, on revenue of $96.26 million. The company also raised its annual dividend to $1.50 per share.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with an average “Buy” rating and a $73.50 price target, while shares recently traded at $65.91 near their 52-week high.

Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Karooooo Ltd. (NASDAQ:KARO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 20,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,015,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Karooooo as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac bought a new position in Karooooo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Karooooo by 852.9% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,954 shares of the company's stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 2,644 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Karooooo in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $156,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Karooooo by 465.6% in the 2nd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 3,258 shares of the company's stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury bought a new position in shares of Karooooo during the 2nd quarter valued at $214,000.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Isaias Jose Calisto sold 20,417 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.51, for a total transaction of $1,317,100.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 17,773,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,146,575,774.63. The trade was a 0.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 144,345 shares of company stock worth $9,258,554. Company insiders own 74.73% of the company's stock.

Karooooo Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:KARO opened at $65.91 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.46 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $54.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.50. Karooooo Ltd. has a 52-week low of $41.25 and a 52-week high of $67.14.

Karooooo (NASDAQ:KARO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $96.26 million for the quarter. Karooooo had a net margin of 17.74% and a return on equity of 32.03%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Karooooo Ltd. will post 2.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Karooooo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 17th. This represents a yield of 239.0%. This is an increase from Karooooo's previous annual dividend of $1.25. Karooooo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KARO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Karooooo from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Karooooo from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen raised Karooooo from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Zacks Research upgraded Karooooo from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Karooooo in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $73.50.

Karooooo Profile

Karooooo Ltd is a global provider of telematics software-as-a-service solutions for vehicle and fleet management. Through its flagship platform, the company delivers real-time GPS tracking, stolen vehicle recovery and driver behaviour analytics, enabling commercial fleets and automotive insurers to optimise operations, increase safety and reduce costs.

Karooooo's SaaS platform integrates proprietary hardware devices with cloud-based analytics and mobile applications. Customers gain access to live vehicle location data, engine diagnostics, route planning tools and customizable reporting dashboards.

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