Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $10.41, but opened at $11.88. Cars.com shares last traded at $11.1520, with a volume of 248,036 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CARS has been the topic of several research reports. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Cars.com from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price (up from $21.00) on shares of Cars.com in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cars.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Cars.com from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cars.com presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.90.

Cars.com Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. The firm has a market cap of $666.37 million, a P/E ratio of 17.63 and a beta of 1.74. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.82.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.04). Cars.com had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 5.71%.The company had revenue of $178.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $179.43 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cars.com news, insider Matthew B. Crawford sold 15,000 shares of Cars.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.77, for a total value of $176,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 98,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,158,885.97. The trade was a 13.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cars.com

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hill Path Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Cars.com during the 2nd quarter valued at $23,854,000. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cars.com during the 2nd quarter valued at $16,456,000. Par Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cars.com during the 2nd quarter valued at $14,220,000. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cars.com during the 2nd quarter valued at $5,210,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Cars.com by 89.0% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 859,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,182,000 after acquiring an additional 404,603 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.15% of the company’s stock.

About Cars.com

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.