Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Cars.com from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Friday, April 10th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Cars.com from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cars.com currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.00.

Cars.com Stock Performance

NYSE CARS traded up $0.36 on Wednesday, hitting $10.60. 58,051 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,291,309. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Cars.com has a 1-year low of $7.40 and a 1-year high of $13.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $9.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $621.55 million, a PE ratio of 33.05 and a beta of 1.46.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.12). Cars.com had a net margin of 2.77% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The business had revenue of $183.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.44 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Cars.com will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cars.com

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CARS. Par Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Cars.com during the second quarter worth $14,220,000. Breach Inlet Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Cars.com during the fourth quarter worth $8,899,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Cars.com by 112.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,127,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,751,000 after acquiring an additional 595,609 shares during the period. Hill Path Capital LP raised its position in Cars.com by 23.2% during the third quarter. Hill Path Capital LP now owns 2,481,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,318,000 after acquiring an additional 468,000 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Cars.com during the second quarter worth $3,776,000. 89.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cars.com Company Profile

Cars.com operates as a leading online automotive marketplace in the United States, connecting car shoppers with new and used vehicle listings from dealerships and private sellers. The platform enables consumers to research makes and models, compare prices, read expert and user reviews, and access tools such as TrueCost to estimate ownership expenses over time. Through its website and mobile applications, Cars.com aims to simplify the car-buying process by aggregating detailed vehicle data, payment calculators, and dealership ratings into a single user-friendly experience.

On the dealer side, Cars.com provides a suite of marketing and lead-generation services designed to help automotive retailers reach potential buyers and manage their online presence.