First Trust Advisors LP Grows Stake in OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR)

First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR - Free Report) by 197.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 219,411 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 145,673 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.21% of OPENLANE worth $4,353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KAR. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in OPENLANE in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in OPENLANE by 435.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,535 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 2,062 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in OPENLANE by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,314 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 1,798 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in OPENLANE during the 4th quarter valued at $187,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of OPENLANE during the fourth quarter worth $254,000. 99.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered OPENLANE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of OPENLANE from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Stephens upgraded shares of OPENLANE from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of OPENLANE in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

OPENLANE Price Performance

KAR stock traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $19.62. 174,445 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 710,193. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.07, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $19.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.71. OPENLANE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.44 and a 12 month high of $22.47.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.01. OPENLANE had a net margin of 6.27% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The company had revenue of $455.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $416.64 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that OPENLANE, Inc. will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.