Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 98,323 Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 98,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,704,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CARS. Barclays PLC grew its position in Cars.com by 340.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 108,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,813,000 after acquiring an additional 83,642 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in Cars.com by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 18,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 2,506 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Cars.com by 60.3% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 6,855 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Cars.com by 74.2% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 5,086 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in Cars.com by 68.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,575 shares during the period. 89.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Thomas Alex Vetter purchased 27,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.75 per share, with a total value of $299,602.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 844,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,082,642.75. The trade was a 3.41% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cars.com Price Performance

Shares of CARS stock opened at $11.36 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $11.43 and its 200-day moving average is $15.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $721.68 million, a PE ratio of 19.59 and a beta of 1.95. Cars.com Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.56 and a 52 week high of $21.24.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.02). Cars.com had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 9.99%. The firm had revenue of $179.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.82 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CARS. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Cars.com from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Cars.com from $17.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their target price on Cars.com from $21.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.30.

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.