OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,470,000 shares, a growth of 33.1% from the March 31st total of 4,110,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 839,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.5 days. Approximately 5.2% of the company's stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of OPENLANE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,822,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of OPENLANE during the 4th quarter worth $4,115,000. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in OPENLANE in the fourth quarter valued at about $254,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in OPENLANE by 119.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 306,038 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $6,072,000 after acquiring an additional 166,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in OPENLANE by 344.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 178,964 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $3,022,000 after acquiring an additional 138,720 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.76% of the company's stock.

OPENLANE Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of KAR traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $19.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 536,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 715,226. OPENLANE has a 1-year low of $15.44 and a 1-year high of $22.47. The stock has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.85, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.65.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.

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