Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Downgraded to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on CARS. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Cars.com from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. BTIG Research cut their price objective on shares of Cars.com from $17.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.00 target price (down from $16.00) on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $13.50 price target on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cars.com currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.08.

Cars.com Stock Performance

Shares of CARS opened at $7.82 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a 50-day moving average of $11.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.69. Cars.com has a 12-month low of $7.68 and a 12-month high of $13.97. The stock has a market cap of $458.39 million, a P/E ratio of 24.43 and a beta of 1.50.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.12). Cars.com had a net margin of 2.77% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The company had revenue of $183.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.44 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. Cars.com’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Cars.com will post 1.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cars.com

In other news, CFO Sonia Jain sold 11,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.45, for a total value of $153,330.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 243,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,276,984.90. This trade represents a 4.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cars.com

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CARS. Hill Path Capital LP acquired a new stake in Cars.com in the 2nd quarter valued at $23,854,000. Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cars.com during the second quarter worth about $16,456,000. Par Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cars.com in the second quarter worth about $14,220,000. Breach Inlet Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cars.com in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,899,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 112.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,127,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,751,000 after buying an additional 595,609 shares during the period. 89.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cars.com

Cars.com operates as a leading online automotive marketplace in the United States, connecting car shoppers with new and used vehicle listings from dealerships and private sellers. The platform enables consumers to research makes and models, compare prices, read expert and user reviews, and access tools such as TrueCost to estimate ownership expenses over time. Through its website and mobile applications, Cars.com aims to simplify the car-buying process by aggregating detailed vehicle data, payment calculators, and dealership ratings into a single user-friendly experience.

On the dealer side, Cars.com provides a suite of marketing and lead-generation services designed to help automotive retailers reach potential buyers and manage their online presence.