Brokerages Set Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) Price Target at $16.08

Shares of Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $16.0833.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CARS. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Cars.com in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. BTIG Research lowered their target price on Cars.com from $17.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Friday, February 27th. UBS Group raised their price target on Cars.com from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Cars.com from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th.

Institutional Trading of Cars.com

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Cars.com by 122.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 29,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 16,347 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cars.com by 23.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 33,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 6,416 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Cars.com by 19.5% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 242,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,730,000 after buying an additional 39,561 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in Cars.com by 67.9% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 74,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $888,000 after buying an additional 30,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Cars.com by 62.3% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 218,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,588,000 after buying an additional 83,848 shares in the last quarter. 89.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cars.com Stock Performance

Shares of CARS opened at $8.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $478.71 million, a PE ratio of 25.51 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.87. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $10.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.28. Cars.com has a 52 week low of $7.40 and a 52 week high of $13.97.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $183.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.44 million. Cars.com had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 2.77%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. Research analysts expect that Cars.com will post 1.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cars.com Company Profile

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.