UBS Group Reiterates Sell Rating for Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN)

Key Points

• UBS Group reiterated a sell rating on Rivian and raised its price target to $15 (from $13), implying roughly a 20.4% downside from the current share price.
• Analyst coverage is mixed—MarketBeat shows a consensus Hold rating with a $16.03 consensus price target, and the breakdown includes 1 Strong Buy, 8 Buy, 12 Hold and 8 Sell ratings.
• Rivian beat the latest quarter's estimates with EPS of ($0.65) vs. ($0.71) expected and revenue of $1.56B vs. $1.27B expected (revenue +78.3% YoY), but the company remains unprofitable with negative margins and ROE.

Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sell" rating restated by UBS Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $15.00 price target on the electric vehicle automaker's stock, up from their previous price target of $13.00. UBS Group's target price would suggest a potential downside of 20.42% from the company's current price.

RIVN has been the subject of several other reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rivian Automotive from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Rivian Automotive from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Rivian Automotive from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $12.00 target price on shares of Rivian Automotive in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Rivian Automotive in a report on Monday, December 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and eight have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $16.03.

Rivian Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of RIVN stock opened at $18.85 on Wednesday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $17.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.98. The stock has a market cap of $23.11 billion, a PE ratio of -6.06 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Rivian Automotive has a 12 month low of $10.36 and a 12 month high of $22.69.

Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The electric vehicle automaker reported ($0.65) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.71) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.27 billion. Rivian Automotive had a negative net margin of 61.34% and a negative return on equity of 57.33%. Rivian Automotive's revenue was up 78.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.08) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Rivian Automotive will post -3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Claire Mcdonough sold 8,039 shares of Rivian Automotive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $144,702.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 730,017 shares in the company, valued at $13,140,306. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Peter Krawiec sold 3,655 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.45, for a total transaction of $71,089.75. Following the transaction, the director owned 29,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $566,422.90. This trade represents a 11.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 155,054 shares of company stock valued at $2,733,010 in the last 90 days. 2.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rivian Automotive

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RIVN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Rivian Automotive by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,849,818 shares of the electric vehicle automaker's stock worth $80,376,000 after purchasing an additional 799,030 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Rivian Automotive during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,324,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Rivian Automotive by 227.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 117,096 shares of the electric vehicle automaker's stock worth $1,719,000 after buying an additional 81,291 shares during the last quarter. Tableaux LLC purchased a new position in Rivian Automotive during the second quarter worth $3,435,000. Finally, Udine Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Rivian Automotive during the second quarter worth $937,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.25% of the company's stock.

Rivian Automotive Company Profile

Rivian Automotive, Inc is an American automotive technology company specializing in the design, development and manufacture of electric vehicles. The company is best known for its all-electric R1 platform, which underpins the R1T pickup truck and R1S sport utility vehicle. In addition to consumer products, Rivian has secured a significant commercial contract to produce electric delivery vans for a leading e-commerce provider, underscoring its capability to serve both retail and fleet customers.

Founded in 2009 by engineer and entrepreneur Robert “RJ” Scaringe, Rivian has grown from a research-focused startup into a publicly traded corporation.

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