Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) Short Interest Update

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,620,000 shares, a decline of 10.0% from the March 15th total of 1,800,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 378,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days. Approximately 2.7% of the company's stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at Cars.com

In related news, CEO Thomas Alex Vetter sold 14,999 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $284,981.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 553,886 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,523,834. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Cars.com news, CEO Thomas Alex Vetter sold 14,999 shares of Cars.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $284,981.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 553,886 shares in the company, valued at $10,523,834. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Douglas Neal Miller sold 1,823 shares of Cars.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.50, for a total transaction of $33,725.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 181,596 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,359,526. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,488 shares of company stock valued at $654,361. Corporate insiders own 1.59% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CARS. Boston Partners increased its stake in Cars.com by 120.1% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,723,288 shares of the company's stock worth $32,519,000 after purchasing an additional 940,376 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Cars.com by 64.3% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,081,684 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,237,000 after purchasing an additional 423,507 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management LLC grew its position in Cars.com by 196.2% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management LLC now owns 380,700 shares of the company's stock worth $4,378,000 after acquiring an additional 252,170 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Cars.com by 1,350.3% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 215,999 shares of the company's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 201,106 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cars.com by 39.9% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 467,441 shares of the company's stock worth $9,265,000 after buying an additional 133,416 shares during the period. 89.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cars.com Stock Performance

Cars.com stock traded down $0.48 on Monday, hitting $16.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 294,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 372,256. The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $17.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.85. Cars.com has a one year low of $14.82 and a one year high of $22.84.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.07). Cars.com had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 25.78%. The business had revenue of $179.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.40 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.15 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cars.com will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $24.00.

Cars.com Company 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.