Wall Street Zen Upgrades Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) to Buy

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Cars.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating, indicating a positive outlook for the stock's performance.
• A consensus price target for Cars.com shares has been set at $17.50 by analysts, with four equities research analysts giving it a Buy rating.
• In its most recent quarterly earnings, Cars.com reported an EPS of $0.41, falling short of analyst estimates by $0.04, and experienced a 0.1% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Cars.com from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $14.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Cars.com from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $22.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $17.50.

Cars.com Stock Performance

Shares of CARS stock opened at $10.18 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $12.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $625.46 million, a PE ratio of 16.42 and a beta of 1.76. Cars.com has a 12 month low of $9.56 and a 12 month high of $20.47.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $178.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $179.43 million. Cars.com had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 5.71%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Cars.com will post 1.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cars.com

In other Cars.com news, insider Matthew B. Crawford sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.77, for a total value of $176,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 98,461 shares in the company, valued at $1,158,885.97. The trade was a 13.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cars.com

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 119.9% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,227 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 2,305 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 624.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,690 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 4,043 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 22.9% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,425 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 30.0% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,025 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 436.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,960 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 6,475 shares during the last quarter. 89.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.