Vanguard Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Cars.com Inc. $CARS

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Cars.com by 0.5%, selling 35,218 shares and retaining approximately 11.15% ownership valued at $79.86 million as of the end of the first quarter.
• Total institutional ownership of Cars.com stands at 89.15%, with several hedge funds, including Dimensional Fund Advisors and Northern Trust, making notable adjustments to their holdings in recent months.
• Cars.com reported Q2 earnings on August 7, missing earnings per share estimates with $0.41, while their revenue was slightly lower than analysts' expectations at $178.74 million.

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its stake in Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS - Free Report) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,085,789 shares of the company's stock after selling 35,218 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.15% of Cars.com worth $79,857,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Cars.com by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,425 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in Cars.com by 59.2% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 54,798 shares of the company's stock valued at $618,000 after acquiring an additional 20,376 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Cars.com by 109.7% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 412,282 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,646,000 after acquiring an additional 215,651 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Cars.com by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 17,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,000 after acquiring an additional 2,922 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in Cars.com during the 1st quarter worth $368,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cars.com news, insider Matthew B. Crawford sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.77, for a total value of $176,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 98,461 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,158,885.97. This represents a 13.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cars.com Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE CARS traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $13.12. The company had a trading volume of 269,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 796,514. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $12.51 and a 200 day moving average of $12.15. Cars.com Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.56 and a 1-year high of $20.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $805.79 million, a P/E ratio of 21.15 and a beta of 1.76.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.04). Cars.com had a net margin of 5.71% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The company had revenue of $178.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CARS shares. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Cars.com from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $22.00 target price (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Cars.com from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Cars.com from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $14.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cars.com presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $17.30.

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.