Bank of America Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) Stock

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) had its price objective boosted by stock analysts at Bank of America from $22.00 to $25.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 8.93% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on KAR. Stephens upgraded shares of OPENLANE from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of OPENLANE from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of OPENLANE in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised OPENLANE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.00.

OPENLANE Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:KAR traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $22.95. 53,432 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 786,294. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $20.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.59. The firm has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.26, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.40. OPENLANE has a fifty-two week low of $15.44 and a fifty-two week high of $24.42.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty retailer reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.07. OPENLANE had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 6.27%. The firm had revenue of $460.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that OPENLANE will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP James P. Coyle sold 7,000 shares of OPENLANE stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.72, for a total value of $152,040.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $793,018.92. This trade represents a 16.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OPENLANE

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of OPENLANE by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 518,168 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $10,280,000 after acquiring an additional 6,216 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of OPENLANE by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 38,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares in the last quarter. South Dakota Investment Council grew its stake in OPENLANE by 121.1% during the fourth quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 50,203 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $996,000 after buying an additional 27,500 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of OPENLANE by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 884,553 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $17,550,000 after acquiring an additional 111,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of OPENLANE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $254,000. 99.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.