Nuveen LLC Acquires New Stake in OPENLANE, Inc. $KAR

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC acquired a 0.71% stake in OPENLANE, Inc. by purchasing 763,762 shares valued at approximately $14.7 million, indicating institutional interest in the company.
• Insider sales included EVP James P. Coyle selling 194,575 shares and EVP Charles S. Coleman selling 59,289 shares, reflecting significant decreases in their holdings.
• OPENLANE reported strong earnings with $0.33 earnings per share and revenue of $481.7 million, exceeding analyst expectations and showing an 11.6% year-over-year increase.

Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 763,762 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $14,725,000. Nuveen LLC owned about 0.71% of OPENLANE at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KAR. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of OPENLANE in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of OPENLANE by 414.6% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,182 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,758 shares during the last quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of OPENLANE in the first quarter worth approximately $51,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of OPENLANE in the fourth quarter worth approximately $68,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of OPENLANE by 19.8% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,575 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. 99.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

OPENLANE Stock Performance

Shares of OPENLANE stock traded up $0.9650 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $29.1450. The company's stock had a trading volume of 760,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 952,393. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.40. OPENLANE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.44 and a twelve month high of $29.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $25.43 and a 200-day moving average of $22.36.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP James P. Coyle sold 194,575 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.94, for a total transaction of $5,436,425.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 36,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,029,616.94. This represents a 84.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles S. Coleman sold 59,289 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.51% of the company's stock.

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.