K2 Principal Fund L.P. Takes $954,000 Position in Cars.com Inc. $CARS

K2 Principal Fund L.P. purchased a new stake in Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 78,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $954,000. K2 Principal Fund L.P. owned approximately 0.13% of Cars.com as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 36.7% in the 3rd quarter. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC now owns 367,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,486,000 after buying an additional 98,559 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 143.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 531,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,495,000 after buying an additional 313,128 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 487.0% in the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 160,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after buying an additional 133,002 shares in the last quarter. Hill Path Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hill Path Capital LP now owns 2,481,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,318,000 after buying an additional 468,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestrel Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Cars.com in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,752,000. 89.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cars.com Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CARS opened at $9.47 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Cars.com Inc. has a 12 month low of $7.40 and a 12 month high of $13.97. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.63. The stock has a market cap of $529.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.01 and a beta of 1.60.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.03). Cars.com had a net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 18.12%. The business had revenue of $180.22 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CARS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Cars.com from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cars.com from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Cars.com from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Cars.com from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Friday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.67.

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.