OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR) Short Interest Down 20.1% in August

Key Points

• OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR) experienced a significant 20.1% drop in short interest in August, with 2,590,000 shares short sold as of August 31.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their price targets for OPENLANE, with a consensus target price of $28.75 and an average rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Insider selling was notable as EVP James P. Coyle sold 194,575 shares, reducing his position by over 84%, while another EVP sold 59,289 shares, indicating significant insider activity.

OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,590,000 shares, a decline of 20.1% from the August 15th total of 3,240,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 901,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 901,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at OPENLANE

In other news, EVP James P. Coyle sold 194,575 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.94, for a total transaction of $5,436,425.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,851 shares in the company, valued at $1,029,616.94. This trade represents a 84.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles S. Coleman sold 59,289 shares of OPENLANE stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.97, for a total value of $1,658,313.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 53,474 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,495,667.78. This represents a 52.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.32% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OPENLANE

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KAR. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in OPENLANE by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 531,985 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $10,257,000 after acquiring an additional 13,817 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of OPENLANE in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,331,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in OPENLANE during the first quarter worth about $936,000. Informed Momentum Co LLC acquired a new position in OPENLANE during the first quarter worth about $2,856,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of OPENLANE during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,242,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on KAR shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on OPENLANE from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of OPENLANE from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of OPENLANE from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Barrington Research boosted their target price on shares of OPENLANE from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $28.75.

OPENLANE Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE KAR traded down $0.20 during trading on Monday, hitting $28.89. The stock had a trading volume of 843,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 812,728. OPENLANE has a twelve month low of $15.44 and a twelve month high of $30.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $27.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.54. The company has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 39.04, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.38.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The specialty retailer reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $481.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $453.26 million. OPENLANE had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 11.65%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that OPENLANE will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current year.

OPENLANE Company Profile

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.