CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $36.95.

CARG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on CarGurus from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered CarGurus from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, March 27th. JMP Securities decreased their price objective on CarGurus from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on CarGurus from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of CarGurus in a report on Monday, May 12th.

CarGurus Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:CARG opened at $31.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 177.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $29.30 and a 200-day moving average of $33.49. CarGurus has a 52 week low of $21.65 and a 52 week high of $41.33.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $225.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $226.72 million. CarGurus had a return on equity of 27.14% and a net margin of 2.34%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that CarGurus will post 1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CarGurus news, insider Ismail Elshareef sold 5,246 shares of CarGurus stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.37, for a total transaction of $164,567.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 107,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,356,809.59. The trade was a 4.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Zachary Emerson Hallowell sold 1,824 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.73, for a total transaction 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 $3,469,286.70. This trade represents a 1.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,335 shares of company stock worth $1,457,176 in the last quarter. Insiders own 16.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CarGurus

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in CarGurus by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 236,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,897,000 after buying an additional 1,496 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of CarGurus in the 1st quarter valued at about $877,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CarGurus by 185.2% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 835,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,314,000 after purchasing an additional 542,382 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CarGurus by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 67,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,959,000 after purchasing an additional 22,425 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of CarGurus by 113.0% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 123,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,592,000 after purchasing an additional 65,420 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.