Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG)

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $42.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 28.09% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on CarGurus from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on CarGurus from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on CarGurus from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered CarGurus from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, JMP Securities cut their price objective on CarGurus from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.95.

CarGurus Stock Up 5.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:CARG traded up $1.71 during trading on Monday, reaching $32.79. 337,517 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 869,757. CarGurus has a fifty-two week low of $21.65 and a fifty-two week high of $41.33. The firm has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a PE ratio of 182.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.74.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $228.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.72 million. CarGurus had a return on equity of 27.14% and a net margin of 2.34%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CarGurus will post 1.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at CarGurus

In other CarGurus news, CEO Zachary Emerson Hallowell sold 1,824 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.73, for a total value of $48,755.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,286.70. This trade represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Samuel Zales sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.78, for a total transaction of $307,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,004,969.50. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,824 shares of company stock worth $907,856 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 16.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of CarGurus by 252.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 169,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,089,000 after purchasing an additional 121,341 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of CarGurus by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 261,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,150,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of CarGurus by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 450,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,514,000 after purchasing an additional 6,186 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CarGurus by 41.8% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 14,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,000 after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CarGurus in the 4th quarter valued at $402,000. 86.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About CarGurus

CarGurus, Inc operates an online automotive platform for buying and selling vehicles in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, U.S. Marketplace and Digital Wholesale. The company provides an online automotive marketplace where customers can search for new and used car listings from its dealers and sell their car to dealers and other consumers; and paid listings subscriptions for enhanced access to its marketplace that connects dealers to a large audience of informed and engaged consumers.