OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

KAR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on OPENLANE from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of OPENLANE in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.00.

OPENLANE Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:KAR opened at $20.03 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 77.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.53. OPENLANE has a 52-week low of $12.86 and a 52-week high of $20.85. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.77.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The specialty retailer reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $448.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $431.68 million. OPENLANE had a net margin of 4.26% and a return on equity of 8.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.18 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that OPENLANE will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Brad S. Lakhia acquired 4,985 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.06 per share, with a total value of $99,999.10. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,303 shares in the company, valued at $286,918.18. The trade was a 53.50 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OPENLANE

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of OPENLANE by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 139,502 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,355,000 after purchasing an additional 10,962 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in OPENLANE by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,475,741 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $41,799,000 after purchasing an additional 35,214 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of OPENLANE by 344.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 178,964 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,022,000 after purchasing an additional 138,720 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in shares of OPENLANE in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $333,000. Finally, PDT Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of OPENLANE by 128.7% during the 3rd quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 38,852 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $656,000 after buying an additional 21,866 shares during the last quarter. 99.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About OPENLANE

OPENLANE, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital marketplace for used vehicles, which connects sellers and buyers in North America, Europe, the Philippines, and Uruguay. The company operates through two segments, Marketplace and Finance. The Marketplace segment offers digital marketplace services for buying and selling used vehicles.