Royce & Associates LP Sells 387,047 Shares of Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS)

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP has significantly reduced its stake in Cars.com by 89.9%, selling 387,047 shares and now holding only 43,344 shares worth approximately $488,000.
• Despite recent changes in ownership, 89.15% of Cars.com stock is still owned by institutional investors, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Cars.com reported quarterly earnings of $0.37 EPS, missing estimates, and its revenue declined by 0.7% year-over-year, leading analysts to predict a consensus price target of $18.30.

Royce & Associates LP cut its stake in Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS - Free Report) by 89.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,344 shares of the company's stock after selling 387,047 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 0.07% of Cars.com worth $488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Cars.com during the first quarter worth about $362,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Cars.com during the first quarter worth about $558,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in Cars.com during the first quarter worth about $439,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Cars.com by 157.7% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 151,603 shares of the company's stock worth $1,709,000 after buying an additional 92,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Cars.com by 13.2% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 398,000 shares of the company's stock worth $4,485,000 after buying an additional 46,562 shares in the last quarter. 89.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Cars.com from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $14.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Cars.com from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $18.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Thomas Alex Vetter purchased 27,870 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.75 per share, for a total transaction of $299,602.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 844,897 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,082,642.75. This trade represents a 3.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cars.com Trading Down 2.7%

NYSE:CARS traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $12.75. 492,953 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 647,392. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Cars.com Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.56 and a fifty-two week high of $21.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $810.01 million, a P/E ratio of 18.75 and a beta of 1.86.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.02). Cars.com had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 6.32%. The business had revenue of $179.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Cars.com Profile

Cars.com Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a digital automotive marketplace that connects local car dealers to consumers in the United States. The company offers a suite of digital solutions that creates connections between individuals researching cars or looking to purchase a car with car dealerships and automotive original equipment manufacturers.