Wall Street Zen Downgrades Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) to Hold

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Carvana from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities increased their price target on Carvana from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Carvana from $400.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America increased their price target on Carvana from $375.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $475.00 price target on Carvana and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $416.33.

Carvana Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of Carvana stock opened at $338.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 4.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51. Carvana has a 12 month low of $148.25 and a 12 month high of $413.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $363.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $322.12. The stock has a market cap of $72.74 billion, a PE ratio of 84.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 3.55.

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.19. Carvana had a return on equity of 40.57% and a net margin of 3.46%.The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.05) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 41.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Carvana will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Ernest C. Garcia II sold 93,376 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.16, for a total transaction of $36,805,084.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,610,915.84. This represents a 93.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ernest C. Garcia II sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.30, for a total value of $37,130,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 35,142,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,048,518,669.60. This trade represents a 0.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,618,292 shares of company stock worth $588,235,207. 16.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CVNA. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in Carvana during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in Carvana by 961.5% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Carvana during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Carvana by 960.0% during the 2nd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 106 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main acquired a new position in shares of Carvana during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. 56.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Carvana Company Profile

Carvana Co, together with its subsidiaries, operates an e-commerce platform for buying and selling used cars in the United States. Its platform allows customers to research and identify a vehicle; inspect it using company's 360-degree vehicle imaging technology; obtain financing and warranty coverage; purchase the vehicle; and schedule delivery or pick-up from their desktop or mobile devices.