Nuveen LLC Buys Shares of 763,762 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 acquired a new stake in shares of OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 763,762 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $14,725,000. Nuveen LLC owned 0.71% of OPENLANE at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of OPENLANE by 19.8% during the first 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. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of OPENLANE by 2.6% during the first quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 39,400 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of OPENLANE by 34.5% during the first 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. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of OPENLANE by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,268 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 1,161 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in OPENLANE by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 126,451 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,509,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339 shares during the period. 99.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

OPENLANE Price Performance

Shares of KAR stock traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $29.15. 378,051 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 955,211. The stock's 50-day moving average is $25.70 and its 200-day moving average is $22.48. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.40. OPENLANE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.44 and a 52 week high of $29.37.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The specialty retailer reported $0.33 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $481.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $453.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. The firm'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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at OPENLANE

In other news, EVP James P. Coyle sold 194,575 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the executive vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Charles S. Coleman sold 59,289 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.97, for a total value of $1,658,313.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 53,474 shares in the company, valued at $1,495,667.78. This trade represents a 52.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.