OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) Sets New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $22.47 and last traded at $22.64, with a volume of 263 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $21.96.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KAR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stephens upgraded 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 report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com upgraded OPENLANE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded OPENLANE from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of OPENLANE in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

OPENLANE Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $19.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.39 billion, a PE ratio of 42.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.32.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty retailer reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $460.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.70 million. OPENLANE had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 6.27%. The firm's revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that OPENLANE, Inc. will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other OPENLANE news, EVP James P. Coyle sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.72, for a total transaction of $152,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,511 shares in the company, valued at $793,018.92. This represents a 16.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OPENLANE

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KAR. Barclays PLC increased 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 during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of OPENLANE by 8.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 139,502 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,355,000 after buying an additional 10,962 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of OPENLANE by 51.1% in the fourth 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. acquired a new stake in shares of OPENLANE in the fourth quarter valued at about $187,000. Finally, Guidance Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of OPENLANE in the fourth quarter valued at about $472,000. 99.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.