Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $10.26 Million Stake in OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR - Free Report) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 531,985 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 13,817 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.50% of OPENLANE worth $10,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of OPENLANE in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of OPENLANE by 414.6% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,182 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,758 shares in the last quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of OPENLANE in the first quarter valued at $51,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of OPENLANE in the fourth quarter valued at $68,000. Finally, Quantessence Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of OPENLANE in the fourth quarter valued at $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.76% of the company's stock.

OPENLANE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KAR traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $25.36. The company had a trading volume of 1,166,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 763,140. OPENLANE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.44 and a twelve month high of $26.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a PE ratio of 38.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.41. The stock's 50 day moving average is $23.47 and its 200-day moving average is $21.22.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty retailer reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.07. OPENLANE had a net margin of 7.15% and a return on equity of 10.38%. The business had revenue of $460.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. OPENLANE's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that OPENLANE, Inc. will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KAR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on OPENLANE from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded OPENLANE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered OPENLANE from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $23.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, OPENLANE has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $24.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other OPENLANE news, EVP James P. Coyle sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.72, for a total transaction of $152,040.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 36,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $793,018.92. This represents a 16.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

OPENLANE 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.